Cyberspace
by xFadingMoonx
Summary: Shigure brings home a video game that accidently transports Tohru into the cyber world. But what about the others? Can Tohru get the chance to find them or.. Game Over?
1. And it began

**Hi guys! So I come to you at 10:39PM and to be honest, I'm pretty tired :) But I suddenly got inspired to write, AND BAM - this chappie is born, weird how that happens isn't it? Anyway, I've had this story idea on my mind for a little while now but had never had the time to start it. So now I have :) Enjoy!**

* * *

**Cyberspace**

**Level One**

_By xFadingMoonx_

"Shigure, what the _hell _is that?"

Kyo glimpsed at the small package that the black-haired man was trying to smuggle inside their house. The man gave a small guilty smile and hastily tried to brush past Kyo to his study. Kyo rolled his eyes and grabbed his cousin's arm, bending it slightly in a direction that bones were not meant to bend in.

"Aww Kyo, you're mean!" He cried dramatically. "What would dear Tohru think if she'd know that her dear boyfriend were treating me in this unfriendly manner-.."

The cat clenched his free fist and unwillingly dropped his arm, his eyes narrowing at the perverted adult.

"Hey, you're planning something aren't you?" He questioned, folding up his arms and leaning against the stairway banister. Shigure faked a look of shock and remorse, but under the orange-haired boy's death glare, he began to sweat and figet.

"Me? Nooooooo. How could you ever think that Kyon Kyon-.."

"Hey! Don't call me _that_-.." Kyo sighed and glared. "Seriously Shigure - that better not been another one of those filthy magazines again. When you 'innocently' left it on the kitchen counter the other day, Tohru almost had a heart attack."

"Nothing that Tohru-chan hasn't seen before." Shigure waggled his eyebrows and smirked as Kyo's cheeks flushed pink.

"_That's not the point_!" The ex-cat growled. "You left it open on the page _with the pop-up dick!"  
_

"Ah, so dirty Kyo knows the pages, does he? I was wondering why that magazine disappeard for a bit.."

"Ah shut up will you!" Kyo had enough and stalked angrily into the living room and lay on the sofa, flicking on the TV. Shigure innocently slid into the room and pointed at the new shiny DVD player.

"Now Kyo, I've left a good movie in there for you and Tohru to watch together. You never know, you might pick up something useful-.." The ex-dog laughed and fled from the room, shouting 'Domestic violence!' As Kyo whipped the remote at his head in irritance. He exhaled and moodily stared at the dark corner of the room.

"I only wanted to know that that pervert was sneaking in and then it ends up in sex tips.."

"I'm home!" Tohru said happily and de-coated, de-scarfed and de-booted herself, before venturing into the living room and seeing a familiar orange huddle on the sofa. She smiled and dumped the shopping bags by the door and then padded quietly over to the deep sleeping Kyo. His hair was flopped over his relaxed face and his perfect tanned skin, smooth. With every breath, his chest heaved upwards and then feel again in a silent swift motion. Tohru resisted the urge to jump him there and then. They wouldn't get caught - it sounded as if no one else was in the house anyway... No, she couldn't do _that_. What if someone else walked in? Plus, it would be a shame to wake Kyo, who looked so peaceful.

So Tohru ignored her urges and tidied up the room a little. She rested against the sofa and watched TV for a bit, before spying that there was a random disc in the DVD player. Curious, she was just about to reach over and press 'play', when a hand landed on her shoulder.

"Do not go near it," she turned to face Kyo, who was regarding her with a playful smirk. "Shigure's DVD."

"Ah," she said wisely and nodded. "Enough said."

He yawned and stretched, the bottom of his black shirt lifted high enough for Tohru to get a peek at his toned stomach. Before she was caught perving on him, she stood up and went to put away the shopping that was still sat there. Kyo followed her into the kitchen and slinked his arms around her waist.

"You went to see the yankee and the phsyic today, didn't you? Told them about 'us' yet?"

She smiled. "Not yet, they're still adjusting to the fact I have a boyfriend. But I didn't tell them _who_. It's fun to keep them guessing anyway. Hana-chan probably knows already though."

He nodded and pulled open the fridge to snaffle some of Shigure's secret chocolate. "So what did they do to you, today?" He asked between mouthfuls.

"Well first they grinded me for boyfriend information, then they grinded me for sex information, and then they threatened to hurt him, should he ever hurt me," Tohru tapped her chin thoughtfully. "And then we spent the whole day in the park."

She finished with the shopping and jumped up to glomp Kyo. "Did you tell Shigure and Yuki, plus the rest of your family?"

"Shigure, Haru, Momiji, Akito, Rin, and Kureno know. The rest - nah. They'll probably find out soon enough."

Tohru smiled that only-for-kyo smile and gently pressed her lips on his chocolatey ones. He was used to her being so assertive now, they started dating two weeks ago and she was more confident in herself, during those 'intimate' moments. Kyo's eyes fluttered closed and gently ran his tongue across her own lips until she allowed him fulll access. The kiss quickly became more passionate and heated. Clothes were even beginning to be pulled off. That is.. Until a door slammed somewhere and Shigure's voice rang out.

"Ooo Yuki - Kyo's doing some dirty things to our dear Tohru!"

Kyo relunctantly pulled away and darted from the room to find his perverted cousin and strangle him. Tohru patted her flushed cheeks and quickly adjusted her clothes. Not long after, Yuki entered the room and swept it with his eyes.

"Hello Tohru. That stupid orange-haired person wasn't just in here, was he?"

Tohru grinned and pretended to collect ingredients for dinner. "Kyo? U-Um, no. T-The last time I checked, he was sleeping in the living room."

Yuki sighed with relief and grinned. "That's good. Kyo's more peverted than Shigure. By the way, I think you have some chocolate on your face." He pointed out and left the room.

"Dinner's ready!" Tohru called and turned the stove off. She turned to see Kyo at the doorway, casually leaned against it.

"Sorry about earlier," he said. "It looks like Yuki didn't suspect anything?"

"No," Tohru laughed. "I threw him off the track."

Kyo smirked and glided forward to peck her on the cheek, before winking suggestingly and exiting as fast as he had come in. Tohru swatted the air with an oven glove and took the dishes to the dining table.

Dinner was overall pretty quiet. Shigure keep throwing impish looks in Kyo's direction and Kyo was took busy avoiding Yuki's death glares to care. Tohru had a hard time keeping the deep blush off her face, and she had to excuse herself to go and run some cold water over her face, three times. By the end of the uncomfortable meal, the boys thanked Tohru and she went to drop the dishes in the sink, deciding that she's clean up later. She returned to the living room, to find the cousins in a heated discussion.

"So that's what you were sneaking in?" Kyo asked in disbelief. "A stupid _playstation 3 _game?" His question was answered with a nod from Shigure, who was busy loading the disc into the console.

"I swear Shigure, if that's a perverted game, I'll send you flying through the roof." Yuki warned and rested his chin on his hand.

"Oh Tohru, these boys have such a low opinion of me," Shigure howled. "And after I bought this very nice game for everyone to enjoy too, you want to see it? Right, Tohru?"

All eyes landed on her. She figeted and smiled ruefully. "Sure!"

"Great!" The ex-dog shouted and settled himself down on a plushy pillow, controller at the ready." Kyo and Yuki sighed and swapped dreading glances as slow music blasted from the televsion. Shigure got up to flick the lights off and returned to his make-shift seat. A black screen appeared with a pink swirly font, there was only one word.

**'Start.'**


	2. Fight or Flight

**'Start'**

Tohru fell backwards in alarm as the room began to shake uncontrollably and lights were dancing before her eyes. Her first thought was _earthquake! _She blindly grabbed around for something to help drag herself up. Feeling the rough edge of the mahogany cabinet somewhere to the side, she gulped down the ball of uneasiness in her throat and held on desperately. The strange shaking began to grow worse and soon her ears were vibrating wildly with a dull roar.

"K-Kyo!" She gasped and dared to open her eyes. The room faded away into tiny particles and blackness was surrounding her, pressing heavily on all sides. "KYO!" She tried screaming and overpowering the effect that the shaking was having on her. No good. No one shouted back neither did they appear. Tohru stared fearfully into the darkness all around her and felt the bile rise from her stomach. What on earth was happening? Where was everyone and _where was she_?

The infuriating noise and earthquake-like motions stopped. Tohru lifted her trembling hands away from her face and stared.

A cabin.

_Cabin?  
_

"K-Kyo? Yuki? Shigure?" Tohru timidly called and thrust her head it all directions, desperately trying to catch sight of them. The cabin was totally empty, save for her, and was only lit very dimly with two red sconces mounted on the rickety wooden walls, giving the room a very secret look. In the middle of the small room, was a wooden table, fully set with dinner plates, cutlery and what appeared to be silver goblets. She gasped silently and clutched onto on of the red velvet dining chairs, suddenly afraid she might keel over and faint on the spot. Panic steadily rose in her and a wave of dizziness began to set in - the room was swaying side to side.. Hang on - NO! The room did actually appear to be swaying. Tohru twigged on rather quickly - she was on some kind of boat!

"Calm down," she whispered and squeezed her eyes shut. "It's just a dream.. It's just a dream.. None of this is real - just a stupid dream." Despite pinching herself hard on the arm until it turned red raw, she was still firmly rooted to the ground, still in the cabin.. Still lost.

A loud bang caught her attention and she swung round to face a grey bearded man, his expression amused at her attempt for a martial arts stance.

"'Choo doin' here for?" He grinned, showing a few caps in his coloured teeth. Tohru took a cautionary step backwards. "I don' recognise yer."

"Um, I'm T-Tohru," she didn't bother to try for a handshake. "Could you please possibly tell me where we are?"

The man stroked his tangled beard slowly; crumbs and dust dropped out and created a small pile on the floor. He sighed and dug a dirty hand under his overcoat for something. Tohru's eyes widened as he pulled out a large knife and waved it about.

"Nev'r been nothin' ol'e Smickey can't chop ter bits!" He cackled and began to advance with his blade. Tohru immediately backed away and groped blindly behind her for something - _anything _to use as a weapon. She managed to bump into the sharp corner of the dining table and inched her way sideways, pulling out chairs as she went to slow him down. Only daring quickly to look away, she dived for one of the butter knives on the table and held it up defensively. The man giggled, compared to her little weapon, his might as well be a long pole.

Tohru realised that she could possibly not match him, and gasped when she found herself backed up against the wall, no more space to try and escape. The man smiled, his teeth either yellow and cracked, or missing altogether. She sensed that he was enjoying the fact that her heart was beating a mile a minute.

"Capt'n won' need ter torture ol'e Smickey any more now," he grunted. "Now's that I foun' me an intruder - he'll praise me!"

"W-Who t-tortures you?" Tohru stuttered, desperate now to keep him talking for as long as she could. "W-Where are we? Why is the ground moving?"

The man known as Smickey, stopped in his tracks and glared at her. "We's on a ship an' you - you sneaked on! Yer should get beat up - not me!" He shook his head and continued his advance, that sickly smile had returned. Tohru was too scared to scream for help - who know's who or what would come running? She scrabbled on what felt like a small table behind her. Smickey was now close enough for her to smell the stench of alcohol on his breath, it made he feel sick to the stomach! Grabbing the nearest thing she could, she squeezed her eyes shut and lobbed it at the oncoming threat. With a dull 'thud', she heard the candlestick find its mark and was followed by a resounding 'crash' as Smickey lay unconcious on the threadbare rug.

Tohru breathed steadily, relief washing over her but the strange chill had still not gone. Smickey didn't seem too smart neither too dangerous - there was probably a lot more dangers than the stupid drunk - and Tohru had to somehow find out where she was and return home as soon as she could - before the Sohma's started to worry. _Would they worry_? She didn't know - everything seemed different here. But at least she knew where she was now. Smickey had said they were on some kind of boat. And judging by his appearance and the decor - it didn't take a genius to guess that it was a _Pirate ship_.

_Okay - so I was at home with the others.. The game.. And now I'm on a Pirate Ship. _She wrinkled her brow in confusion. _Does .. Does that mean that I.. I'm _in _the game - or something?_

That had to be it - she had no other perfect explanation and even worse - no idea of how to return home.

She figured that since the table had been set, she didn't have a lot of time before more people arrived and Smickey wouldn't stay unconscious forever. She pocketed the heavy candlestick (the one she used as a weapon) and slipped through the wooden door. She found herself in a dark crimson hallway and waited for her eyes to adjust to the gloom before venturing further.

The paintings either side, bored their frozen eyes into her body - as if daring her to take another step forward. Tohru ignored the beat of her heart and increased her pace, only calming down when she'd bolted through another door and panted quietly on the other side.

"Hey!"

She froze at the harsh voice. A young woman around the same age as her, stared back defiantly and placed her hands on her hips. The woman had dirty blonde hair which cascaded down to her waist, steely grey eyes and wore some sort of rag, draped carelessly around herself.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" She barked, an English accent to her voice. "Who _are _you?"

Tohru was just about to stammer an answer, when loud footsteps were heard back in the hall. Tohru silently cursed her luck - she'd be lucky to be alive at the end of the day! The strange woman wasted no time and quickly grabbed Tohru, and bundled her into the nearest cupboard, locking it and slipping the key away. She returned to her spot and pasted on a sickly smile went the door opened and a dirty old man hobbled in.

"Hotrah Nuon," he croaked and downed a bottle of whiskey that was on the nearest table. "Capt'n wan'ed ter know when 'is dinner was ready."

"S-soon." 'Hotrah', quickly spun on her heel and began to tend to a steaming saucepan, on the stove. Tohru suddenly noted that they were in the kitchen. She gave up trying to get out and silently moved the cooking equipment from underneath her, on the self she was cramped on.

"Aye," the man said darkly. "But Hotrah - yer havn't been workin' very well lately, have yer? Even been a rumor goin' round that yer tried ter sneak some o' that _rat poison _into Davey's stew, last week. What say yer to that?"

"I had no idea it was rat poison," Hotrah replied drily. "Old Davey wanted spices in his stew. The bottles looked the same." She shrugged and whisked the contents of the frothing pot around with a crummy spoon.

The man snorted and whittled up to her, placing his hand on her rump. She made no indication that she even noticed and didn't even flinch when he leaned into her ear.

"Arrrr. Bein' the kind man an' saint that I am - I'm will'n ter over look this .. If yer return the favour, tha' is." He broke into a crooked smile. Hotrah sighed and emptied the contents of the pot, onto a steel tray.

"I can't tonight Bash. I already said I'd dedicate myself to Karnbey's 'needs' tonight."

Bash giggled. "Bu' ol' Karnbey doesn't know of yer li'ttle 'murder' attempts - does he? He doesn't know wha' an evil lil' soul you are. Still, yer more fiesty tha' the time when yer worked in the _Sugar Lounge_."

_Serving drinks I hope. _Tohru thought.

Little beads of sweat were dripping down Hotrah's exposed neck. She scratched her white shorts uncomfortably. "You wouldn't tell him would you, Bash? Karnbey will have me strung up by my toes if you let slip."

He shrugged. "Not bother'd. My ol' sharp tongue stays were it is if yer come ter my room tonigh'."

She sighed, defeated. "Fine. I'll make up an excuse to ditch on Karnbey and come to yours instead. You better keep your word though, or the rat poison might end up in _your _food, Bash."

"Fiesty," the old man smirked and hobbled back out from the room and called back; "I keep m' word!"

Hotrah stood numbly for a few seconds and yanked the steel cupboard door open. Tohru tumbled out with an assortment of cooking utensils and glanced up to see the stranger hold a kitchen knife threateningly.

"You have precisely five seconds before I gut you and serve you to my master."

Tohru quickly found her voice. "I'm Tohru Honda," she gabbled. "To be honest - I've got absolutely no idea why I'm here or even how I got here!" She paused and realised how crazy it sounded. "The problem is - I-I have to get back!"

"Bull," Hotrah sneered. "Your probably some sort of criminal - or spy - here to report us pirates to the authorities!"

"-No!"

"I'll kill you! I'll kill you where you stand!"

"W-wait!" Tohru ducked out of the way of the knife as it tried to slash her to ribbons. "Your name is Hotrah Nuon, right?"

"What does it matter?" The woman cried and unleashed a series of dangerous swipes and slashes. Tohru had only very basic knowledge of how to dodge attacks - she sometimes watched Kyo training with Kazuma - but would it help her now? She bit her lip and concentrated on rolling out of the way and launching various pots and pans at her crazy assailant.

"I'm Tohru Honda!" She said again, narrowly stepping off to the side. "Hotrah Nuon - Tohru Honda .. Both our names are anagrams of each other! See? Rearrange the letters and you'll see!"

"I don't give a crap!" Hotrah spat. "You really think that'll save your life?"

"It proves we're probably connected somehow - I'm not sure, but maybe I'm right!"

Hotrah stopped and twirled the knife swiftly in her hands, she eyed Tohru with suspicion. "Connected? How are you and I supposed to be connected? I'm nothing but a .. _Cook _and a whore - only called upon to satisfy the needs of these," she gestured with her hands. "Fools!"

"But you're more than that!" Tohru argued and frowned.

"How do you know that?" Hotrah shot back. "We've only just met - and I don't trust you in the slightest!"

Tohru sighed, she was exhausted already, however she wouldn't rest until she found her way back home and was in Kyo's arms again. Thinking this calming thought, tears began to prickle at the side of her eyes and clung to her lashes. Tohru raised her head and stared hard into Hotrah's dark eyes.

"I definitely know. I think we're meant to help each other," the Japanese girl said confidently. "Then I can return home, and you can be helped with whatever you desire."

Hotrah scratched a lone scar on her cheek thoughtfully and gazed out of a barred window, by the corner.

"I wish to return home too," she whispered. "To my children."

"Children?"

"Yes, two of them. Gret and Fran," the woman sniffed and played with the hem of her apron. These pirate scum came to my village one day. Killed everyone. Killed my.. My husband. They spared me and made me work for them."

"I-Im sorry."

"No need. That was about two years ago, it happened. I'll be lucky if my children still remember me-.."

"B-But children never forget their parents!" Tohru cried. "Even if they die - their children still don't forget!"

Hotrah studied the girl for a moment before smiling sadly. "I won't ask to how you got to that notion, but I'll respect it," she placed the knife down and hurriedly began to switch off all the cookers. Seeing Tohru gaze at her questionably; Hotrah replied. "They'll have to go without food tonight. We're going to have to escape." And with that, she lurched forwards and grabbed Tohru's wrists, and they sped out of the kitchen and down the dark hallway once more.

Tohru had spent hours ducking out of the paths of drunken pirates, with Hotrah's help of course.

When they heard the sounds of footsteps, the woman would seize Tohru and send them both flying into a closet or a storage room and hide until it was safe to come out again. After many near misses and the threat of Tohru sneezing at the exact same time as one of the pirates coughed, they had somehow made it on deck. Cleverly concealed by piles of seaweed-covered rope.

Tohru was used to the gentle rocking motion of the boat now, she silently thanked Kami for it. Otherwise she'd be throwing up over the side! The soft breeze calmed her nerves and she let it wash over her like a warm shower, the scent of salt water filled her nose. While seagulls cried way above - hoping to scavenge some free food. She glanced down to her swollen wrist, where Hotrah had grabbed her so many times. Hotrah noticed and smiled.

"Sorry, only way I could have saved our asses."

Tohru nodded and quickly stole a quick glance above the ropes. "So what's the plan?" She asked.

"Well," Hotrah sighed and paused. "I'd rather avoid fighting - even though I am rather handy with a knife!"

_Yeah I guessed, _Tohru thought grimly, recalling the incident in the kitchen earlier.

"... But if I remember correctly - most of the boys should be out in the little boats fishing and hunting treasure by now. Captain always keeps one or more boats docked to the side if we should have an emergency.."

"So we get away with one of these boats?"

"Yes."

Tohru nodded. "So what if they so happen to see us row away - or return just as we get in?"

"Run like hell," Hotrah growled, eyes dimming with remorse. "Don't let these pigs touch you. _God. _An innocent girl like you.." She didn't bother to finish her sentence. Tohru was glad - she really didn't want to know what could happen to her in the pirate's eager, dirty hands.

"Should we slip out now?"

"I think so," Hotrah nodded. "It doesn't look as if anyone's out here - be on guard though."

Tohru scrabbled round the side of the pile of ropes on her hands and knees, not longer caring what she looked like now. When she'd get home - she'd treat herself to hundreds of clothes. _If... If _she got home.

There were random rusty nails standing out from the rickety planks that she avoided with all costs. The planks creaked with protest as she shuffled further over them, not daring to look up but still hearing the reassuring huffing of Hotrah in front. The sun was beginning a set a little, casting a pale orange glow over the sky. The good news was that the girls could keep quite easily to the shadows. The bad news was that the pirates would return from fishing very soon.

They managed to slither all the way around the huge deck and settled in the darkness of under the wooden stairs, leading up to the higher deck tier.

"Right, the boats are just up these stairs," Hotrah talked in a business manner. "The deal is we mosey on up to a boat - _any _boat, untie it and lower it into the water, and then row on like hell is after us!" She pummelled the air with an excited fist and gnashed her teeth together. Tohru smiled but took a cautionary step backwards. Hotrah didn't notice, but suddenly spun on her heels and prised open a concealed cubby hole, built into the wood behind her. She made a satisfied noise and pocketed a few fishing knives and a broad sword. She handed Tohru a silver katana and a small pistol.

"Use these," she pointed to the weapons. "In the worst possible scenario, ok?"

"O-Ok.."

"I mean it," Hotrah sensed Tohru's apprehension. "These men will stop at nothing to hurt you. Why not send a few to the depths of the ocean while your at it? Rather save your soul than theirs.."

Tohru made no comment. She hadn't even shot or sliced anyone before. She hadn't even _come _close. Where the pirates really as dangerous as her new friend had made out? She had no more time to wonder. Hotrah nudged her and signalled that they should get moving. The Japanese girl slid the katana into its sheathe and slid it through her belt, deciding to keep the pistol in her hands.

Hotrah again, lead the way and scrambled up the wooden steps, Tohru following closely. She heard Hotrah utter a faint cry from the top, when Tohru had managed to straighten up beside her. She was what her friend was surprised at.

At least six or seven pirates grinned viciously at the two girls, their eyes full of lust and lechery. Tohru noticed that Bash and Smickey were amongst the dangerous group, their very own weapons glinting the fading sunlight.

_Is it possible in this game to die? _Tohru fingers gripped her pistol tighter. _I have to live through this - I have to get back to Kyo and the others.. But how? How exactly am I meant to? Come on, think fast.. Think fast! _She hadn't played many video games herself, only glimpsed the odd one when Shigure or Kyo were playing one. _In those games, they had special things like.. Like 'Health-Ups' and .. And 'Time 'Limits.. _Tohru stopped. _Time limits? Could there be a possible time limit on this game or something? If I don't complete this before the time limit's up.. I'll have to complete everything again from the start! _Realisation gripped her and a wave of ice washed through her body. She was determined.

"Well well, Bash sold us out - eh?" Hotrah spat at his feet in disgust.

"Team effort," he grunted in response. "Ol' Smickey has quite a tale. Says he 'ad a run-in with tha' there girl, earlier." Tohru blushed.

Hotrah glared. "Step aside," she said dangerously. "Or I'll slice you to ribbons."

"I'm afraid the odds are in our favour," a pirate with several golden piercings, stepped forward. "You see, Captain wouldn't want our cook and .. _Ahem_, slave, to go running off now, would we? Plus we'd be hanged for letting an intruder slip away."

"I don't work for him. I never wanted to. Now last chance - scuttle back to your sad little cabins and be good boys and pretend you saw _nothing_."

The pirates cackled loudly in response, slapping their knees and wiping tears from their eyes.

"Cry me a river," Piercings giggled. "On second thought - you probably will when we've done with you. A glistening river of your blood. How does that sound?"

"Delightful." Hotrah darted forward - and long knife in each hand - and began to swipe at the group, drawing three pirates to focus solely on her. Which of course, led Tohru to try and keep the other three busy. Great. Bash and Piercings began to advance upon her. The third pirate - 'Peg-Leggy' kept a suitable distance away, two pistols in his belt.

Tohru ripped the katana out of its sheathe (nearly skinning herself in the process) and swung it clumsily around. Not only a danger to them, but to herself as well. Bash happily danced out of her way, Piercings and Peg-Leggy giggling like school girls in the background. The sword was heavy and she could feel the sweat gathering up at the base of her neck - it weighed an absolute ton! She faintly noted that Bash was leading her into a semi-circle. Is she kept following like this, then they'd be free to surround and probably kill her.

So couldn't let that happen.

Gripping the katana with two shaking hands, Tohru leapt forwards and executed a horizontal slash. Bash barely got out of the way in time, only losing his hat as it was cut to pieces on the deck. Bash growled angrily and swept forward, swords flashing faster than Tohru's eyes could follow. She restricted the urge to cry out in pain as he managed to nick her in more than a few places, her blocks were clumsy.

_Why don't the other two join in and put me out of my misery_, she thought unhappily, glancing at Peg-Leggy and Piercings. Bash's sword swung up in an arc motion, if she didn't duck quickly to her left, her head would have been chopped off.

She was suddenly very aware that she was holding a gun. Stupid of her really - why didn't she just blow their darn brains out? Because she couldn't. Was she really happy with killing them? Killing fellow humans?

Tohru didn't want to risk a quick glance at Hotrah - she was totally on her own.

Bash roared and prepared to attack. Tohru gulped as he soared toward her like a warrior. She held up the gun and quickly pulled the trigger, faster than he could realise and avoid. The bullet ripped out at a snail's pace (or so it seemed) and tore right through Bash's left shoulder, sending flesh, cloth and blood in every direction. Tohru felt some of it splatter on herself, she ignored those guilty feelings and concentrated on staying alive.

Bash sunk to the deck in a death-howl. Within a few moments of squirming around and cursing - he became silent and his body evaporated in a flurry of pixels.

Peg-Leggy and Piercings were beside themselves with anger, they forgot themselves for a moment and rushed towards the girl, only intent on killing her with no regard to block. Tohru gritted her teeth and jumped over a pile of mouldy crates behind her, she tripped and her knee smashed into the wooden floor, the bone moving painfully beneath her pearly skin.

She cried out in pain hopelessly nursing her sore leg, trying with all her willpower to scrabble up and hobble back to the fight.

"Tohru!" She heard a scream. After a few moments, she found herself staring into the familiar eyes of Hotrah. Yes. She remembered now. Hotrah - her new friend.

"Tohru!" The woman gasped again. "Are you alright? I saw you fall - can you stand?" Hotrah hat a deep cut above her right eye, blood leaking down to the eyelid. She was cut in many places too and silently having trouble breathing.

"Y-es. I understand Kyo will be picking me up soon?"

"Kyo?" Hotrah's brow furrowed. "Who's Kyo? Tohru - did you hit your head? I think you have concussion or something.." She was cut off when a dagger flew from nowhere and landed heavily with a 'thunk' on the wood - next to her hand. Hotrah roared, picked up Tohru's pistol and fired rounds of bullets at one of the pirates she was fighting earlier.

"Tohru - There are only three left now. We're down to half - do you think you can still fight?"

"..."

"Tohru!"

"Yeah."

With Hotrah's help she managed to stand upright, a wave of pain shot through her as she put her weight on the injured leg. She could see properly now that the remaining pirates were waiting patiently together - determined to carry out their torture and deaths. Hotrah glanced worriedly at Tohru - to the gun in her hands.

"Tohru," Hotrah bent down to inspect a cut she had and was whispering out of the side of her mouth. "I'll create a diversion. Listen to me - I want you to go over there to where the boat is - I've already untied the rope, so it's overboard floating down below. First chance you get - jump into the water and climb in - do you understand?"

"What?"

"Do. You. Understand?" Hotrah's voice was low and dangerous. She regarded Tohru with a steely glare. "I'll keep the pigs occupied until then - if they come after you - DAMMIT, row like hell! Geddit?"

Tohru nodded, feeling a seriously headache coming on as black spots danced before her eyes. She heard Hotrah unleash a hail of bullets somewhere close to her ear and a scream of "NOW!" Tohru nodded weakly and hobbled as fast as she could to the side of the ship as fast as she could manage. She didn't bother to jump - she had no strength for that - but let herself topple over the edge. For a second, she thought she was flying. Soaring through the twilight sky - past the twinkling stars and planets - to a world where her family were waiting with open arms, for her to arrive.

A sudden coldness filled her lungs and left her gasping for air. She could feel the water working against her as the current pulled this way and that. Her arms and legs thrashed uselessly underneath.

And then a stupid thought entered her weary head.

_Can I even swim?_

It didn't matter. She had a goal and Hotrah and possibly sacrificed herself for Tohru's sake - she _had _to live.

Tohru's head broke the surface and she gulped in as much fresh salty air as her lungs would allow. She kicked her legs in what she hoped was a professional manner and collided with a mahogany floating shape.

She gratefully pulled herself up on the boat and spent a few moments, just lying there. The iciness of the water seemed to have helped with her concussion and she was now able to think more clearly.

Above, she could still hear the faint sounds of fighting and shouting and shooting. Tohru hoped Hotrah would decide to join her soon - she could almost see the returning fishing pirates on the horizon in the other direction - they had to hurry.

Tohru tired to yell up but her voice came out as a mere squeak, she tried a couple more times before giving up and relishing the calmness of the waves.

It felt as if she'd been here forever.

But where was _here _exactly? She was trapped inside a freaking video game for goodness sake! _Here_, technically didn't even exist.

She was broken out of her thoughts by a sudden shape, freefalling out of thin air and collapsing into the water nearby. Tohru gathered up her strength and rowed one-handily to where the shape fell. She could see a flurry of dirty blonde below the surface. Tohru uttered a low cry as she noticed the crimson water and stuck her hands in, yanking it up. Hotrah smiled sullenly.

"Thanks," she muttered. "L-let's go." She attempted to seize an oar.

"Hotrah," Tohru gasped. "Where's your arm?"

"My arm?" Hotrah glanced down at her bleeding stump. "I guess I left it back up there." She shrugged.,

Tohru ignored her nauseous feeling and tore the sleeve of her top away. She applied the sleeve to the wound and tried to keep constant pressure on it, within moments the sleeve was completely congealed thick with blood.

"It's alright," Hotrah waved her hand. "It's a small price to pay for getting rid of _them_."

"You managed to kill them?"

"Yes. Although one of the bastards got the better of me," she nodded towards to where her arm used to be. "I got close enough and tore chunks out of his legs, with my teeth," she shuddered. "Not nice business."

_"Ya think?" _Tohru wanted to say. She kept quiet and helped to row, the dark boat cutting through the water like butter. She glanced back and saw that the pirate ship was now just a shape in the distance. A shape in her memory, and that's where it would stay. She felt herself falling in and out of consciousness, the yearning for sleep was overwhelming. Beside her, Hotrah was still - her eyes closed and rather pale. Tohru thought she had died, until she saw the rythematic rise and fall of her stomach.

_If I let myself fall asleep - will I wake up?_ Tohru felt her eyes wetten at the thought. She let the oar drop to her side and lay back into the boat. The sky above was a black-pinkish colour. The first stars were beginning to show, twinkling brightly in the distance. It reminded her terribly of the nights she and Kyo used to hang out on the roof, back at home.

"I never thought I would be this homesick," she whispered, trails or tears falling from her eyelashes. "This is hell. Ultimate hell."

She imagined the sky glowing green and momentarily blinding her. Her body sailing through endless space and time, flashes of the past, present and future flying by. The faces of her friends in their own little world. She liked this floating feeling. It made her feel peaceful and calm. For a second, she even thought she saw Shigure's living room, Shigure's house, Shigure's study. It honestly felt like a millennia since they were last there. The green covered her eyes gently, she closed her eyes and let events tale their course.

"I don't want to die."

For a horrifying second, she thought she'd left the cooker on at home.

And she smiled.

* * *

**Yo!**

**Man, it took me FOREVER to write this. However, it came out to about 5,000 words so I'm happy (:**

**Please read and review guys**


	3. The Secret Army

Even though the sun had just barely risen over the dusty horizon, orders were being barked harshly across the crisp morning air, at the volume of cannons. Everywhere within the small area, people emerged bleary-eyed from their tents and prepared to begin a new day.

Kyo groaned and nestled down further into his lumpy green sleeping bag. He didn't want to fall out of his nice dream, neither was he used to the _stupid _morning routine yet - even after the many weeks he'd been there.

Was it even weeks or days? Either way it felt like _months_. He had no clue, everything was messed up in the stupid cyber world.

Ah yes, the cyber world. It took Kyo a _lot _of time and mental arguments to get his head round the fact that he _was _indeed, in a game. _Shigure's _game infact. Kyo wanted to save most of his strength to throttle his cousin when he returned. _If_ he returned.

Kyo also didn't know how far in the game he possibly was, or even how to escape! Which worried him endlessly. Sleeping was a problem too. Almost every night - images or thousands and thousands of lost and hurt Tohru's plagued him and begged for help, battering their innocent round eyes and huge shadows with axes lurked behind them. He had the strangest feeling that he wasn't the only one transported this .. Universe.

Kyo was fully awake now, yawning his head off and shivering from the dawn chill. Those stupid sleeping bags were totally useless - along with everything else.

He glanced up to see a blonde man peeking his head through the small tent.

"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty!" The man chirped. Kyo recognised him as Gene, the leader of their particular cell - also consisting of four others. With him being the only 'newbie' - it had provoked them at first, to constantly take the piss out of him and convince him that he was nothing but 'dirt'. Gene was the one to witness Kyo beating the _crap _out of all four of his comrades at once. After the fight, Gene approached him and they high fived and laughed about it together afterwards.

"Mission already?" Kyo sighed. They had returned not long ago from a nasty fight with a bunch of stinking pirates. Gene looked as if he sympathised with Kyo and nodded slowly.

"Apparently there have been rumours that a crop of pirates have been sighted again, over at the warehouse docks. These orders come from the General _himself._ We've been ordered to go and take out the bastards by any means neccessary," his face darkened. "That means you can't fluke out on us like last time, Sohma. I understand that you've never killed a man before - but these pirates are _not _people.. They're the trash of today's society," Gene decided to stop rambling and nodded once more. "Be ready in five, outside my tent." And with that, the man exited from the tent and his early morning shadow, vanished from the walls.

_And I'm not gonna kill anyone either, I don't care if this is some stupid video game. _Kyo gritted his teeth and found himself clenching his knuckles, until they turned sickly white.

"Where the hell are you, Tohru?" He muttered. He wondered what on earth Uo and Hana would _do _to him, if they found out that he'd lost Tohru in such a dangerous-looking world - not that he didn't deserve it of course - already, he'd failed to keep the girl he loved safe.

Another pressing issue of course - was where Shigure and Yuki were and how exactly he was going to find everyone and get back home again. He figured that since they were 'supposedly' in Shigure's video game - that the 'game' had some sort of storyline that needed to be followed. It was probable that he had to do nothing and simply wait for the storyline to progress until he had some sort of lead on where exactly the others were. It was not a plan that he liked.

_It could take forever. _He mentally sighed and got up to quickly to splash some water on his face, from the makeshift shink at the corner of the tent. He brushed his teeth and climbed into the grey and black jumpsuit and black boots, that Gene had provided him with. As his was dressing, Kyo couldn't help but think of the mission ahead. He didn't dare ask Gene about why the military had such a vendetta about pirates - or what pirates were even _doing _in such a hi-tech cyber world. The two things didn't seem to match up right - they only clashed.

Kyo pushed through the tent exit, yawning and stretching in the early morning air. It was cold and bitter and tore through his clothes to his tanned skin - chilling him to the bone. He narrowed his eyes and glared off into the distance of the huge hi-tech city, with its captivating neon lights and tall, clean skyscrapers - everyone who lived in it was in their own _perfect _world. Unknowing or uncaring about the secret war with the military and the pirates.

Someone clapped him roughly on the shoulder, and he turned to see a man grinning cheerfully at him. Kyo recognised the man as another person in his four-man cell. The man seemed to be missing an eye - which was covered by a rather ironic eyepatch. He scratched his chin thoughtfully, where a deep scar sat.

"Beautiful 'aint it, Newbie?" He gestured at the city skyline and prompted Kyo to walk with him.

"I guess," Kyo nodded. "I'm from a small town though.. I don't get to visit the city much."

The man nodded. "I figured that already about you, mate. You don't really have the look of a city boy.. Or a killer." He couldn't resist but add on the end. Kyo shoved his hands in his pockets and chose to say nothing. His comrade kept up with his speed and continued to talk.

"What are you doing in the military - if you don't mind me asking? You obviously aren't here for the thrills of spilling the blood of bastard pirates!"

"Just what is your problem with pirates?" Kyo growled. The man looked mildly suprised at Kyo's hostile tone, but blinked away his shock and glared off into the foggy distance.

"They're everything that's wrong with this society," he said darkly. "They dirty everything we've worked _hard _for."

"Right." Kyo sighed and decided to drop the subject altogether - nobody in the area seemed open-minded enough, for him to get some _useful _information for once, out of someone.

He shoved his hands into the pockets of his grey military outfit and let his eyes wander around the faces of the other units and cells - emerging from their tents into the morning sun. One thing he noticed - darting from one face to another - was that a lot of them had cyborg-like features implemented into missing eyes or limbs. Kyo turned to his comrade and almost opened his mouth to ask why he hand't opted for a robotic eye for his empty socket, but he decided that it seemed too personal of a question for someone he hadn't known long. So Kyo concentrated on walking in the slushy mud instead - imagining that Shigure's s_tupid _face was stuck to his boots.

"Julius.. Kyo." A voice greeted. Gene was stood idlly outside a huge grey tent, a serious look on his face. At once, Kyo and the one-eyed man known as Julius, stood to attention and saluted him. The tent door flapped open, and another man strode outwards and flicked the jet black hair from his face. He turned to Gene and saluted him as well, Gene nodded and retorted with a simple, "Denzel."

"Now that we are all here," Gene clapped his hands together enthusiastically. "We can get started in clearing out this pirate scum," he beadily eyed the team and prodded his fist into a handrawn map, on a small table in front of him. "Julius and Kyo will breach the back entrance via the employee lounge of the warehouse.. Denzel and I will work on securing the perimeter - in case there are reinforcements. We're one of the _best _cells out there, guys.. No mistakes today." Gene's eyes landed on Kyo for the last portion of his sentence. He blinked and Gene once again, was addressing everyone else and gearing them up with their weapons.

Kyo stood forward when it was his turn, and swallowed down the urge to throw up when he was given a silenced pistol and a pouch full of ammo. Gene must have noticed that his face had paled, as he leaned in and patted Kyo sympathetically on the shoulder.

"It's the least high-profile weapon I could give you. Baby steps, eh?" The blonde man winked and signalled for the team to follow him.

Kyo found himself being pushed into the back of the small grey camoflaged jeep, where he was squashed against his comrades and their weapons at awkward angles, whilst Gene climbed into the cabin and got behind the wheel. He consulted a map for a few seconds before hitting the gas and sending the vehicle hurtling forwards.

Kyo groaned inwardly and stared downwards at the pistol in his lap. He honestly could hardly bring himself to hold the damn thing.. Sure enough - if he _had _to, he would use it to save the people closest to him.. But to end the life of some _pirates_? It didn't seem right to take lives. Even if it _was_ just a video game.

_I'm thinking too hard about this. _He sighed._ But how long can I honestly keep up this charade for? Sooner or later - they're gonna notice that I'm not shooting the targets. _He didn't really want to imagine the conversation and the disappointed look that Gene would give him. Would they kill him for knowing about the secret war or let him go?

"Looking forward to getting me some pirate flesh," Denzel said quietly and grinned at Julius and Kyo. "The sooner the pirates are dead and the war is over.. I can go home to the wife and kids."

"Lucky bastard," Julius chuckled and stroked his shotgun. "All that's waiting for me at home is bitter memories.." He paused for a second, his eyes were glistening over slightly. He turned to Kyo; "Got anyone special waiting for you at home, kid?"

"My girlfriend." Kyo replied shortly. Denzel whistled under his breath and clapped Kyo hard on the shoulder.

"Young love ehh?" He winked and his mouth parted to show his sharp teeth. The orange haired boy stared hard and cold into his eyes and merely shrugged a little. Denzel sat back down on his seat and squashed one leg on top of the other. He eyed Kyo with new interest.

"She's a young thing too I'll bet. Fresh straight out of school too," he smiled. "That's the way to grab them best... While they're young and _pure_."

There was a shuffle of feet and suddenly Kyo had Denzel by the throat. Every second, his tanned fist slowly crushed the man's windpipe and there were shouts and arms grappling Kyo's torso - trying to drag him down. Kyo ignored it and stared into the horrified eyes of Denzel.

"If you even _think_ about my girlfriend like that again," Kyo spat dangerously. "I swear to God.. I'm gonna fucking kill you."

Before Denzel even had a chance to croak his reply, there was a sharp wind and the butt of a machine gun colliding with Kyo's forehead. The boy fell to the rumbling floor heavily and rolled around in immense pain. Black and red spots covered his vision and his head felt as if it was splitting in two. There was a roaring sound tearing through his eardrums and causing a major headache. He blearily opened his eyes and winced as Julius prodded him lightly with the butt of the gun one more time. He knelt downwards and pulled Kyo roughly off the floor of the vehicle and turned back to Denzel - who was nursing his sore neck.

"None of that," Gene's voice rang out dangerously from the driver's cabin. "If you girls want to argue and break each others nails - wait until the damn mission is _over_."

Kyo didn't bother with a reply and instead sat himself back down, as far away from his team as possible.

_What the hell is up with these guys anyway? _He never thought for one second that in his lifetime, he would miss home and the company of Shigure and Yuki - most of all, Tohru. He even castd his mind back to all of those hot summer evenings where both he and Tohru were cuddled up together on the porch, watching the stars above and listening to the television blasting out through the open living room sliding doors. Jeez, how long ago was that even? He and Tohru hadn't been together as a couple very long.. But it felt as if they'd been together _forever. _Without even trying, he could answer every question about her and name all of her favourite things - colour, place, song - everything. And now everything was all messed up - Tohru and the others nowhere to be seen and Kyo bundled in an army with a stupid cause.

He sighed and moodily stared out of the plastic jeep windows and watched the grey, desolate countryside float by. That was also something that he couldn't put his finger on. Everything seemed so _dull_. Whereas the city in the distance itself, shone brightly with it's technology and vibrance. Out here, it seemed as if nothing had been alive for years.

Kyo's eyes pulled to the cabin, where Gene was slowing the vehicle down and pulling into an old abandoned car park. He climbed out of the drivers seat and shouldered his gun - watching the area closely.

Kyo and the other two men, ambled out of the back of the jeep and stretched their legs. Denzel shot Kyo a dirty glare - to which Kyo retorted with an even dirtier one.

The was a fresh smell of saltwater breeze in the air that breathed a little bit of life into the landscape again. Kyo traced the smell towards the direction of the docks, that sat behind the warehouse.

There was a sound of someone clearing their throat and Gene stepped fowards and poised his gun over his shoulder, looking into each of their faces and searching for any hints or traces of emotion. When his eyes met with Kyo's, the orange-haired man forced himself to keep an emotionless face and stare defiantly back at him. When Gene looked satisfied - he jutted the barrell of his gun at the warehouse and stared back at the men.

"Shoot to kill boys," he said darkly. "There are no innocents in there."

Kyo blinked. He honestly expected a whole big speech going on about how 'pirates were the scum of the earth' and how they were a massive waste of space. He was suprised to see Gene and Denzel ready their weapons and walk off without so much as another word. There was a sharp tap on his shoulder and he turned to see Julius silently signal him and towards the back door of the warehouse.

Kyo reluctantly pulled the pistol out from his holster and followed Julius towards the door. The elder man stopped in front of it and cautiously pressed his ear against the corroded metal. He waited for a few moments in complete silence before booting in the door and sending it flying inwards with one kick.

"Whaa? You think I have no strength?" Julius winked and stepped into the building.

"Just didn't think you had it in you." Kyo smirked and followed suit. The building interior looked about as rough as it did on the outside. The walls were peeling with outdated paint and mould - the ground was covered in debris from the cracked ceiling, that sagged down unpleasantly. Julius swiftly checked the room for any signs of life and sighed.

"I'm more than meets the eye," he said wisely. "_You _are too.. It would explain also why you got so angry about your girlfriend back there."

Kyo sharply intook his breath. "I'd beat the shit out of _anyone _who talked about my girlfriend like that!"

Julius shook his head. "You misunderstand me, Kyo.. True - Denzel was way out of line back there.. But the point of what I'm saying is that why on earth did you join the military, if you strongly felt about her that much? Would you not want to stay at home and have a nice normal life and a family with her?" Julius sympathetically clapped Kyo gently on the shoulder.

"It's.. Not that easy," Kyo mumbled and glared into a dark, crumbling corner of the room. "If it were, I'd be at home with her right now." He trailed off and wistfully imagined sitting down to one of Tohru's brilliantly cooked home meals. The daydream was so strong that his mouth watered unpleasantly.

Julius replied with a shrug. "I won't pressure you for more details lad. We have a mission to complete anyway. Mission first. Emotion later." The man finished his sentence with a satisfied nod and took lead through the rooms once again - Kyo in tow.

Most of the rooms looked the same as each other - each one crumbled and looked as if the ceiling may cave down at the slightest possible sound. There were rooms in which it looked as if someone had been living in them for a little while. In the kitchen, there was a crate of unperishable goods that had been messily pried open and its contents were littered all over the floor. Julius fell silent and bent down for a few seconds. When he came up again, he was holding a half-eaten tin of cold beans.

"They heard us coming." Julius whispered and darted his eyes from corner to corner of the room. He readied his gun and pointed silently towards a dark door in the shadows of the room. He signalled for Kyo to follow and together, they slowly progressed towards the door. Julius outstretched his hand quickly - and as soon as his hand fell upon the rotten doorhandle - there was an almighty shriek and a dirty woman flew out of the shadows and started to fiercely beat Julius down with a plank of wood.

Julius growled and rolled along the floor and out of the woman's reach. She again leaped forwards for round two - but Julius was ready this time and viciously sent the butt of his gun across her face. She fell back - stunned and Julius took the chance to boot her heavily in the stomach and kick her down onto the floor. She panted heavily and stared hatefully at them both. Julius pointed his gun squarely at her.

Upon closer inspection - Kyo realised that the woman only possesed one arm - the other was cut off from the elbow upwards. He judged that from the untidy bandages that had been hastily tied around it, and the dark stain it left.. That it was a fairly new injury.

"Are there any others?" Julius snarled. The woman continued to glare and say nothing, so Julius booted her around the head again. She coughed and spluttered and spat out red saliva across the floor.

"I'm not a patient man," Julius whispered. "Now let's try this again shall we? _Are there any others?_ Bear in mind that if you answer me incorrectly - I'm gonna open fire and rip you to shreds." By the look on his face, Kyo believed him fully.

The woman paused for a second and bit her lip. She finally sighed and held up her one good arm in peace, and waved her fingers about abruptly.

There was a scuffle from inside the dark door that Julius had never manged to open. Someone coughed a little and suceeded to trip over a jutted floorboard and went sprawling to the floor. The one-armed woman was over to the figure's side in seconds and whispering something under her breath. The figure gave a small gasp as they got to their feet and saw the guns.

"Don't worry," the one-armed woman finally spoke in a deep, tough voice. "They won't do shit to us." She stepped forwards defiantly into the barrell of Julius's gun and pulled the other person with her. When both of them were illuminated by the sunlight filtering through the ceiling - Kyo gasped.

_Tohru..._

_TOHRU?_

He couldn't quite believe it.. Surely someone was playing a really dirty trick on him and putting his whole _life _before his very eyes and urging him to fall for it and make an idiot of himself. After all.. Why the _hell _would Tohru be hanging out with pirates and end up being hunted down by some crazy military _freaks?_

Still... He was with Tohru again.. _His _Tohru.

Sure enough she looked a little different now.. Her face was pale and etched with what looked like extreme tiredness. Her body looked dangerously thinner than normal and more frail than a feather. She had also picked up a few nicks and bruises all over her normally flawless skin. Kyo almost found himself punching down his comrade, picking up Tohru and getting the _hell _out of there.

Her weary eyes met his and for a moment - no one else exsisted in the world except themselves in their own little perfect bubble. His arms ached to walk over and take her lovingly in his arms and whisper to her that everything was going to be okay and that there was nothing to be worried about anymore... However - he suspected that if Julius caught wind of their relationship - he'd take it in the wrong way and end up shooting them _all _down...

_SHIT. _He got over the shock of seeing Tohru's tired frame and his eyes fell upon the gun that was pointed at both women. He wondered if he could quickly distract Julius and yell for Tohru to escape.. But it probably would not do any good. Gene and Denzel were still stalking about outside and they would not hesitate to use their guns at the first sign of pirates.

_I can't let him know that I know Tohru, _he racked his brain painfully - thinking of plans and escape routes. _Otherwise she's as good as dead. _He mentally shuddered at the thought of cradelling her cold, lifeless body to his.

He only hoped that Tohru would understand _why _he wasn't holding her and comforting her already. He tried to establich eye contact with her again and somehow telepathically tell her to keep innocent - but her eyes were wearily on the gun and holding onto the woman next to her in fear.

"Names," Julius barked and tossed a notepad and a pencil to Kyo. "Tell me. _Now._"

"Hotrah Nuon." The one-armed woman replied reluctantly. She silently nudged for Tohru to do the same thing.

"... Tohru.. Honda."

Julius cocked his head to the side. "Well well - the famous Hotrah huh? I've heard a lot of stories about _you, _missy and your famous escapades. Still..." His eyes landed on Tohru. "I've never heard of her," he glanced backwards at Kyo. "Make sure you got their names and descriptions down, Sohma."

At his name, Tohru visibly shook and quickly managed to pass it off as a sneeze. She and Hotrah locked eyes and stayed that way for a little while, whilst Julius snatched the notepad back from Kyo and flipped quickly through the pages. When he was done, he made a small satisfied sound and reached to his utility belt and brought out two small bundles of rope. Again, he tossed one bundle to Kyo.

"You take the timid one.. I'll take the feisty one." He grunted and stepped towards Hotrah - who gently pushed Tohru behind her and launch a punch on Julius. The ,an merely smirked and caught Hotrah by her skinny wrists and effortlessly slipped the rope onto them.

Kyo stepped forwards eagerly - his heart pounding heavily and gently took Tohru by the arm.

He frowned at the way hardly any flesh clung to her bones and how she looked so timid and tiny in his hands. Silently, she obeyed him and held out her hands whilst Hotrah and Julius exchanged voilent words.

Kyo bent down and secured the rope loosely around her wrists. As he leaned over and pretended to be inspecting the knots - he kissed her ear gently and whispered to her.

"I can't believe you're here." He choked back his emotion and the urge to hug her. She sent him a loving small smile.

"I've missed you so badly, Kyo.. You have no idea what we've been through.." She nodded her head towards Hotrah.

"I know, I know," he said in a soothing voice. "And I really wanna talk to you right now and .. Kiss you.. But first, we have to get out of this mess and _away _from this crazy place.." He gave her frame another glance. "You haven't been eating have you?"

She shook her head. "No.. I've been too scared.. Kyo - where _are w_e? What's going on?" The girl looked as if she was about to cry - moisture clung to the end of her long eyelashes and threatened to spill down her cheeks. Kyo could almost hear his heart breaking at the thought of the girl he loved being in so much pain. He hastily planted a quick kiss on her forehead and told her not to worry.

"I will get us out of this.. I _promise _Tohru - I'll protect you with my life! I love you."

He honestly didn't know how he could make such a promise. How the _hell _did he plan to get them out of this mess? _Alive. _

_I can't let her down. _

Julius had finally finished tying up Hotrah - who had earned a few new bruises on her face during the scuffle. He couldn't resist giving her one last push towards the doorway and signalled for Kyo to drag Tohru after them.

"So what happens now?" Kyo asked woodenly.

"Well," Julius grinned. "We take them back to camp and let the boss question them until he's satisfied. When he's done, these two lovely ladies here, will become new targets for the trainee target range.. And be _exterminated._."

* * *

**WOW - I'm so sorry for the long wait guys! This fic has been on hiatus for a little while - due to the fact that I wanted to finish my Betrayal series first, before I dedicated myself to anything else. Anyway - I shall be working on this fic again as my main project - so there hopefully shouldn't be too long of a wait for another chappie next time. Holy crap! I only just realised that I published this story in 2008? Where the heck did all the time go? Gahh D:**

**Thankyou for reading and please take a few seconds or so to tell me what you think!**

_**-**xFadingMoonx_


	4. Condemned

How could it have all turned out so complicated?

One minute, she and Hotrah were sat down cross-legged on the dirty kitchen floor and talking about their lives whilst Hotrah dug into a tin of beans that were in one of the supply crates that were littered around the place.

And the next minute, Tohru found herself being bundled into a supply cupboard by a hasty Hotrah who told her to _shut her mouth _and stay put, no matter what. True enough, she had come to learn and trust the elder woman's judgement and instinct when it came to danger. But she remembered taking one glance at Hotrah's sad stump of an arm and a wave of worry fell upon Tohru like a tonne of bricks.

And then.. Kyo.

Tohru rolled about in her lumpy sleeping bag and bit her lip to stop herself from calling out his name. Sure enough - she knew what would happen if her captors knew that she and Kyo were together - they'd shoot them both. And no _way _would she let that happen to him. To Kyo.

She sighed sadly and sat up awkwardly in her makeshift bed. Her left leg was freezing and dangled out of the covers - covered in a thick metal chain that was connected to a metal pole in the centre of the tent. On the other side of the tent, was Hotrah sleeping soundly with a worried expression on her face. Tohru wanted so badly to wake her up so that together, they could perhaps think up a way out of their situation. But then she remembered that Kyo promised her that he would be the one to come rescue her.

She smiled a little and blushed at the thought of his little kisses and the look in his eyes when he said that he loved her.

She missed him..

Little tears were gathering at the corner of her eyelids again. She hastily rubbed them away with a dirty forearm and clenched her fists.

"Idiot," she quietly cursed herself. "Now that won't do.. I have to be strong." Still, she couldn't help the small tears cascading down her face and landing with quiet drips on her sleeping bag. She huddled back undeneath the covers and scooted a little closer to the metal pole, in order for her chained leg to get some warmth at last. She hugged her legs close to her and imagined that Kyo was sleeping next to her peacefully.

The thought was comforting and she again, found herself drifting off to sleep and imagining a dream world - where she and Kyo were somehow together and happy and _safe. _It felt like a million years since they'd been in their kitchen, discussing Uo and Hana and their future together.

Tohru's eyes fluttered open again to a slightly brighter tent. She figured that she had only been asleep for an hour or so. She was also covered in sweat and dry tears - her beautiful dream had somehow evolved into a nightmare in which Kyo ended up being shot by a whole army.

"Awake, eh?" Said a voice.

Tohru's head flipped to the side - expecting to see her gorgeous orange-haired saviour.. Instead Hotrah was blinking sleepily and yawning.

"Wha'?" Her eyebrows rose. "You look disappointed, honey."

Tohru's head shook frantically. "N-No I'm fine.. Just had a nightmare is all.."

"I know.. You kinda woke me up with your yelling."

Tohru immediately blushed crimson and smiled sheepishly. "I woke you? I'm so, so sorry Hotrah."

The woman waved away her apology and gave the chains a fleeting glare. "Now how the hell are we gonna get outta' this mess?" She clicked her tongue with annoyance and began to work the chains with her fingers, looking for some kind of fault or weakness. After a few moments, the woman gave up and moved her eyes around the rest of the tent.

"I have a possible way out," Hotrah sighed. "But it would involved one of us breaking our ankles and slipping out of these chains."

Tohru's mouth gaped open. "I-I'm okay thanks," she said hastily. "Besides - I got a good feeling that if we hold on a little bit longer.. We'll get lucky somehow." She finished her sentance with a tender smile.

Hotrah's eyebrows rose. "Lucky ehh? By which are you reffering to the handsome orange-headed man I wonder?"

Tohru's eyes snapped to the tent door and back to Hotrah again, who merely said; "I saw the way you guys were looking at each other."

"Kyo," Tohru explained. "You remember the one I was telling you about? My boyfriend."

"Ahh so _that's _Kyo, huh?" Hotrah trailed off into her thoughts and let her eyes wander over the chains again. Tohru quickly adjusted herself, so that she was sat on top of the sleeping bag with her leg dangled uncomfortably on the ground. From outside the tent, she could see the shadow of one of the guards sitting outside, snoring quietly in the early morning light. Hotrah followed Tohru's line of sight and slowly picked herself up from the ground.

"No!" Tohru mouthed frantically. "No killing anyone!"

Hotrah sighed dejectedly and sat back down again - disappointed. Tohru inwardly rolled her eyes at her friend.. She had to appreciate Hotrah's willingness to survive but killing someone was _not _the way to do it - bad guys or not, it didn't matter. A human life was still a human life all the same.

She wasn't aware at how long she was sat there exactly - delving into the deep of her thoughts for some sort of clue or escape that they could pull off. She wasn't too sure _how a_nd _when_ Kyo was going to come for her. But she sensed that it should be really soon since the man who had found them had announced that sooner or later, they were going to be _killed_.

She didn't even want to imagine it.

There were a rustle of footsteps outside the tent and suddenly the guard was awake and his shadow was standing to position. Hotrah hissed for Tohru to get back into her sleeping bag and pretend to be asleep - so Tohru obeyed and quickly slipped back under the covers again, squeezing her eyes shut tight, heart pounding in her ears.

There was a few moments of silence and a rustle as the tent door was pushed aside and a collide of footsteps enetered the tent. There was a cough and a sound of satisfaction, and suddenly a hand was gripping Tohru's hair painfully - and yanked her up to her feet.

She squealed with pain and instinctively tried to wriggle out of the grasp. But her assailant was covered in muscle and only tighetened his grip harder, so that her whole head ended up aching.

She opened her eyes fearfully to see four men in the tent, standing close by. From the sound of it, Hotrah was putting up a good fight from her captor and was being beaten over the other side of the tent.

Tohru's heart stopped when she realised that one of the men looking at them, was Kyo - his eyes looked black with anger and he had a murderous expression on his face. He was glaring hatefully at the young, blonde man that still had her hair in an iron grip. The blonde man luckily did not notice the killer atmosphere and instead, stared down at her in disgust.

"Do you have no respect for yourself," he said quietly. "A young girl like you becoming a pirate eh?"

She rather hoped with all her heart that he didn't seriously expect a legitimate answer from her. She was worried that from the moment she opened her mouth - she would break down into tears and look even _more _pathetic in front of the big scary army guys.. Plus she knew for a fact that giving up to her emotions would disappoint Hotrah - who really believed that Tohru was a strong young woman and they could depend on each other for safety.

"Tohru is not a pirate," Hotrah said clearly. "I'm the real criminal here.. So please., Just let the kid go..." Her voice had a adopted a begging edge to it - she was patting her eyelashes and gorgeous brown eyes at the man holding her up. The man grinned and fell for her charms instantly.

"Denzel," the man holding Tohru, said tiredly. "You can do what ever you want with her _after _this inspection.. As for your little 'act' there missy - I'm not buying it. After all, young girls have got no business hanging out with scummy pirates. They should be back in the city at school and with their friends," he looked pitiedly down at Tohru once more. "And what about you, Tohru? Do you have any friends or family?"

"No family. Only my friends and my .. Boyfriend.." She whispered and quickly glanced towards a tense Kyo. Luckily for them both, Gene didn't notice her eye movement and quickly released the vice grip on her hair. She went sprawling to the ground and scuttled backwards from the group.

Gene paces around the tent a little bit and began to dicatate to the rest of his team about their orders and what steps they should take next. He barked for the man holding Hotrah - known as 'Denzel' - to get in contact with the General at once, so they could make preperations for the lynching.

Tohru felt her heart freeze over into cold, black ice the second she heard the word 'lynch'. Back at school in Japan - she recalled studying the subject with the rest of the class during a few History lessons. Lynching was a term used to describe an execution carried out by a mob - it was supposed to be completely illegal nowadays but of course, she did not know what the laws were in this huge, complicated world.

She guessed by the horrified expression on Kyo's face, that he realised the same thing and was looking at her fearfully. Hotrah looked confusedly from Kyo to Tohru - trying to suss out the telepathetic conversation between them.

Gene stopped pacing and stopped at the tent door. He turned towards the girls and sent them a sickeningly sweet smile. Tohru figured that he would have been quite handsome - if not for the whole 'kill the pirates' thing..

"A word of warning.. If you both try and escape," he held up his shotgun threateningly. "I'll be the first one to put holes in those heads of yours." And with that, he swept out of the tent as quickly as he'd come in - his boys in tow. Before leaving, Kyo shot one last worried look at Tohru - looking as if he wanted to desperately communicate something to her - but she wasn't getting the message.

She waited a few seconds after the men had left before she crawled desperately over to Hotrah and traced the elder woman's face with her fingertips. Hotrah had gained quite a few new bruises and cuts. Her left cheek looked a little puffy but her eyes were as sharp as a hawks and studying Tohru's face with a mixture of weariness and fear.

"I hope your boy gets his ass in gear and gets us the _hell _out of here." She muttered wistfully.

"... Yeah," Tohru sighed. "Me too."

It was roughly around midday when the man known as Denzel returned to their tent and roughly kicked a tray of food towards them. He grinned wolfishly at Hotrah and eyed her up and down with a mild excitement. She clicked her teeth in annoyance - which only seemed to amuse him more. As soon as he stalked out of the tent and took up his station outside - both Tohru and Hotrah fell upon the food ravenously. Tohru couldn't even _recall _the last time she'd eaten properly.

"Not much here." Hotrah complained, her fingers flying over the assortment of food items. She picked out a couple of slices of dried bread and most of the fruit and handed it to Tohru. Looking as if she was ready to refuse - the elder woman hushed her and said; "Eat!"

Tohru understooad all too well why her friend had given her most of their rations. Hell, she couldn't ignore that fact that her normally pale white skin - tad taken on a slight yellowy tinge and that her skin was pratically hanging off her bones! She felt disgusting and revolting and ashamed to be seen by Kyo in such a state. Tohru looked down at the thin slices of bread in her hands and forcely shoved them down her throat and began to chew. The bread tasted a little stale and dry - but it was still food and the fruit managed to wash away the taste of flour from her mouth.

She also noticed that the tray also contained a couple of bottles of water. She took one gratefully and drained the entire contents quickly until she felt satisfied and somewhat normal again.

After their brief meal, the day dragged on and on and soon enough, they had run out of things to amuse themselves with. Tohru opted to lay back on her makeshift bed and try and makeup for lost sleep. Her leg now emitted a dull ache whenever she moved it, from being tied to the metal mast for so long. Hotrah herself, had been running her fingers through the chains and the clasps all day long - in order to find some kind of weakness in the design that she could exploit. The woman had a one track mind and wasn't really open to conversation. With every passing hour, Tohru could sense that she was getting more and more annoyed.

And Tohru really couldn't blame her. Who knew even how many more _hours_ they would life, let alone _days_. The atmosphere was growing a little hysteric and desperate for Tohru's liking. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut and forced happy images and moments of herself and Kyo, Yuki and Shigure back in their lovely home.. Together.

* * *

_**Flashback.**_

All day it had been miserable and raining down on the Sohma house. Raindrops hammered the roof like small soldiers and drained down the paine of Tohru's windowsill silently. She was sat cross-legged on her bed with two piles of books and essays that contained her 'done' homework pile and a pile of stuff that she still needed to complete fairly soon.

Of course though - her thoughts were very rarely on the Sociology essay that she was working on.

No matter how had she tried to concentrate - images of a familiar orange-headed boy floated into her mind like innocent butterflies and hovered there, until she realised that she had stopped working altogether and shook him out of her head. But there he was again a few minutes later - in her head with a gorgeous smile pasted on his tanned face.

_Why do I keep seeing him everytime I close my eyes? _She inwardly sighed. Heck, even Uo and Hana had noticed that in lessons - she had completely lost track of the work set for them and stared into space. Tohru slipped her hand onto her forehead and briefly wondered if she was coming down with some kind of cold that made her concentrate less. Whatever is was - it had to stop _soon_, or her grades would fall and she would fail her exams and end up breaking her promise to her mother.

With this realisation, she moved her homework out of the way and decided to take a quick break and begin with the dinner. The house was pretty silent apart from her footsteps skipping down the stairs and into the entrance hallway. Shigure was supposed to be visiting Akito at the main house and Yuki was at Machi's house. So for the day - it was just her and Kyo alone.

Tohru frowned at the darkness of the living room as she entered. Where was Kyo? Come to think of it.. She hadn't heard from him in a little while. At once, phantom situations flew into her head and whirled around and around. What if Kyo was kidnapped and was being held random by a terrorist group? Or what if he decided to go out in the woods and take a walk, and then managed to fall from a cliff?

Fortunately, the sound of quiet snoring quelled her paranoia instantly and she took a calm breath and followed the sound. Kyo was sprawled over the living room sofa, deeply sleeping.

Tohru found herself smiling without even realising it and she suddenly felt so stupid for letting her worries get the better of her. She gently perched herself on the coffee table next to him and studied the way his chest rose and fell gently with each breath. The way his eyelids fluttered gently as if he was dreaming about something nice and how the corners of his mouth twitched slightly. She couldn't deny that he was the most beautiful person she'd ever laid eyes upon. Sure enough, the whole _entire _Sohma family, were beautiful and made everyone else pale against them in comparison - but Kyo was something else altogether entirely. He was undeniably perfect.

She casted her mind back to the very first day when she and Kyo had met. He had come flying through the ceiling of her bedroom and challenged Yuki to a fight - not at all noticing that Tohru was behind him_, _until she tripped and fell into Kyo and unveiled the Sohma secret.

Thankfully nowadays, the atmoshpere between the cat and the rat had relaxed and there was a whole less tension in their home. Kyo really had come a long way since that first day..

She shook her head and stopped the memories of the cat and herself, flooding through her mind. She quickly rose and exited the room, only to return a few moments later with a blanket and pillow.

"You'll get cold, silly." She scolded gently and tossed the blanket over Kyo's sleeping form. She slid the pillow under his head successfully without waking him and stood backwards to admire her work. Satisfied that Kyo now looked comfortable, she retired to the kitchen and started to prepare dinner for the evening.

It was when she was chopping leeks and tossing them into the cooking pot - that Kyo ambled in tiredly, leaned against the doorway and yawned. Tohru briefly looked away from the leeks long enough to flash him a small smile.

"Good sleep?"

He nodded. "Thanks for the blanket and pillow by the way.." He paused as a red blush tinged his cheeks. He gestured towards the leeks. "Are you serious, Tohru?"

She resisted the urge to laugh and merely grinned. "Don't worry - they're for Yuki, Shigure and me.. Your meal will come without leeks. I promise." She did a mock cross over her heart and he snorted with relief.

The pair fell silent for a few moments and the only sound that could be heard, was Tohru chopping up the ingredients for dinner and tossing them into the pot of miso soup. She could feel that Kyo wanted to talk about something, but for some reason hadn't said anything yet. He was behind her, awkwardly in the doorway and keeping his thoughts to himself for now. Which was okay.. Tohru trusted him to come to her if he ever needed to talk about anything.

Kyo slid into the kitchen further and leaned on one of the counters next to her.

"Did you hear that the school is having a Winter Ball?" He yawned.

Tohru nodded. "I saw a poster outside the gym for it the other day."

His eyebrows rose. "I'm suprised that the yankee or wave girl, hasn't _kidnapped _a potential match for you, yet. You know how much they fawn over you."

Tohru just gave him one of her usual happy smiles and shrugged. "I'm not really too bothered about going to the Ball. It's just a dance." She mentally rolled her eyes and scolded herself for being such a _liar_. She noticed from the corner of her eye that Kyo was studying her closely, his amber orbs never leaving her face. She felt self-conscious and almost sure that he'd seen through such an obvious lie.

He nodded. "Yeah I know what you mean," he paused and gently prodded her shoulder, so that she would turn to look at him. "But I'm asking because I _want _to know if you'd like to go... With me." He finished his sentance with a serious hue of pink on his cheeks. Nethertheless, his eyes were still confidently locked with hers. After a few tense seconds of silence, she gave a beautiful smile and nodded.

"I would love to, Kyo."

* * *

Kyo figured that it must have been around six in the morning when he woke up shaking in his bed. He'd had a nightmare again, involving Tohru and him. The frightening images were thankfully, beginning to fade away in his mind. But he knew that they probably would return the next time he went to sleep.

He was pretty sure that he hadn't been asleep long however. Julius's words had been reverberating around his head like angry bees. The more he heard them - the harder he had to restrain himself from bursting into the prisoner tent and kill everyone that got in his way.

He shook his head. No. He wasn't a killer.

But sure enough, he definetly had to do _something_ to save Tohru. After all, he had promised her and she would be waiting for him.

He wiped the sleepiness from his eyes and sat up straight, climbing out of his bed and paced around the tent in bare feet. He remembered hearing Gene talk to them all yesterday and assign them on a guard duty timetable in order to keep the prisoner tent on watch at all times. It would be two men on shift every six hours before the next two men would take over their positions. Kyo clicked his tongue and tried desperately to remember what time he and Julius were on duty.

But what good would it even do? Sure enough, he'd be close as hell to Tohru and keeping her safe - but with Julius watching him, he would not be able to launch a rescue and run away with her.

He sighed heavily and kicked his boots heavily, halfway across the tent. This situation was getting waaay too complicated for him.. And with so many things at stake. Any of his actions could either make it or break it.

Kyo clenched his fists and _seriously _thought about what he was fighting for and trying to accomplish. He briefly thought about his life without the most amazing girl by his side.. Always cheering him on.

She had helped him so much through the years that they had been together.. Living in Shigure's house. After all, _she _was the one who confessed that she loved him and gently opened his heart to her. Because of her, his curse had been broken and he no longer lived every day in turmoil and was given the chance to start again, as a normal man.

Tohru Honda. The girl who had given him everything and expected nothing in return.

So by _every _God that he could possibly think of.. He was going to help _her._

* * *

**Ahoy there everyone! I have to admit that this has been one hell of a busy day and surely the next week won't be any easier. So it's good to escape once in a while to fanfiction and seeing someone else's problems for once! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chappie and the next one shall be up very soon m'dears. Please take a few seconds out of your day to leave a review and tell me what you think? It would be very appreciated. Thanks for reading!**

_**-**xFadingMoonx_


	5. Scientific Pursuits

It was coming to the end of an extremely gruelling twelve hour shift in the 'Suoh' Medical Research centre - the business district of the strange, cyborised city. Hours ago, all the other workers had happily returned home to their families and home cooked meals. Very soon, they would be going to bed in their own houses and waking up the next morning, as happy as ever.

Yuki Sohma sighed and tossed his goggles to the side of the counter and rested his head on his hands. His little experiment had completely failed to produce any sort of results that would help him even a _little_. He guessed that in video games, science and logic went out the window. Not that he'd played many in his lifetime. Mostly it was Shigure and Kyo.

Still.. There had to be something that could help.

Luckily for him, he had found himself awoken in the middle of the Medical Research Facility after falling into the game. He even had his own ID card with his name and number printed on the front. It sat delicately hanging from his lab coat pocket. All of the interns reported to him and called him 'sir'. For the moment, it didn't look as if he would fall into any dangerous situations. Which suited him just fine.

How long had he been sitting in the same stool for now? He could feel the aches and pains crawl up from his lower back to his shoulders. He yawned and stretched until his bones clicked uncomfortably and resumed the same position that he'd been sitting in for _hours._

"No good." He thought aloud.

In all truth, he hoped that Tohru, Shigure and Kyo were safe somewhere and had sense enough to stay out of trouble. Well.. Tohru was a little more naiive than most. She would be more of a vunerable target in this strange, neon world. The thought itself struck an icy shard into his heart as they thought of the girl who had been a mother figure to him, getting hurt or _worse_.. By Shigure's stupid game.

Ah yes. He was going to get revenge on Shigure once they all got out of this mess.

Now all he needed to do, was to find them first and get out.

Yuki impatiently tapped his fingernail on the table and pulled open a couple of large textbooks on Particle Electronics and Electronical Oddities. Hours before, he had decided to make use of the Medical Centre's extensive library and take out whatever he could find that looked reliable. So far.. It didn't really help.

He stared at his failed experiment one last time and opted to take a break and go for a walk or something. As he was rising painfully from his seat, there were squeaks of footsteps in the polished hallway. A few seconds later, a tall man appeared in the doorway. His ID card clipped onto his lab coat, told Yuki that he was head of Science Administrations. The man nodded respectfully at Yuki.

"Working late?"

Yuki nodded. "It has been late nights for me all week, I'm afraid."

The man grinned. "In that case remind me later - and I'll buy you a drink after all this mess is over," he gestured towards the labs. Seeing Yuki's confused expression, he decided to elaborate. "Whaa? Did you forget? The Centre is working on a top secret project for the Goverment. Supposedly it's meant to change the very fabric of out society today." The man coughed suddenly, a little embarrssed at the passion in his voice. However, Yuki didn't even notice - wrapped up in his own thoughts.

The head of Science Administrations shrugged his shoulders. "Anyway, I just came by to see if anyone else was here, before I lock up for the night."

Yuki got the hint and walked over to the coat hangers by the door and pulled on his lab coat. "Sorry," he smiled apologectially. "I've just been so busy these past few days."

"Everyone has," the man replied. "Late night shifts.. Sleepless nights.. Still, at least tomorrow is the Technology Convention and at last, we can start to settle on a price for the project to be sold to the Government and be done with it!" He clapped his hands together enthusiastically and bid Yuki goodnight, disappearing towards the labs.

Yuki dug his hands into his pockets and followed the exit signs for the quckest route outside. He didn't much feel like returning to his empty, lonely apartment tonight. At least.. Not yet anyway. Not until he could possibly work out a few questions yet.

The moment he pushed open the large double doors to the outside, a cool breeze swept in and calmed him instantly. He always did feel better when there was fresh air in his lungs. It was better for him to think clearer anyway.

_Just how 'top secret' can this project be, to leave half the Research staff obvlious to it? _Yuki couldn't help but wondering to himself, as he rounded the street corner and took off towards the outskirts of the town. There didn't seem to be many people out at nighttime, and even if they did happen to be, they mostly kept themselves to themselves and hurried on with their business. Yuki kept spotting security cameras dotted on every street and dark alley. He had a bad feeling that there were few places in the city that were not being watched.

Which is probably why he could not shake the feeling of cold dead, fingers creeping up his spine and making the hairs on his body stand up. It didn't take a genius to tell that someone was watching him at that very moment. For the answer as to why? He wasn't sure.

Yuki continued till the end of the road and waited until the last possible second to quickly dart into a quiet side street and hurry down it - casually throwing glances over his shoulder as he went. Nope. No dark shadows seemed to be following him in the distance.

He didn't know the city very well - but there was a very promising looking building at the corner of the street that barely stood out beside the huge towering, office blocks surrounding it. Upon closer inspection, Yuki noticed that it was a quiet little bar with welcoming lights inside. He threw one more look behind him and hurried inside the door - pulling it shut behind him.

Thankfully, the inside was just about as welcoming as Yuki had hoped. He was suddenly bathed in the cool reddish light of the sconces that adorned the yellow walls from the hallway into the bar itself. There were smart mahoghany tables with potted plants and flowers assorted in glass vases - the only sign of natural life that Yuki was sure he'd seen in the whole city! His eyes moved from the plants to a waitress who was patiently holding an empty tray. She smiled sweetly.

"Welcome good sir," she bowed. "Would you like to be shown to a table?"

Yuki pasted on a fake smile that he usually only reserved for the Prince Yuki fan club. "Yes, of course." He followed the girl obdiently through the heavily carpeted hallway and wound around the building towards the back of the bar. She seated him in a booth far away from the prying eyes of the patrons and handed him a drinks menu. When a bearded man acorss the4 room, signalled for her assistance, she smiled apologetically at Yuki and told him she'd be right back. When she was gone, he breathed a huge sigh of relief - feeling as if a huge weight was lifted from his chest and now he felt as if he could breathe freely again.

"What _is _it with this town, I wonder?" He sighed aloud and rested his head on his hands. Each morning he woke up, he felt as if the energy was being sucked dry from him - leaving him with depressing thoughts and recycled air. He tapped his nails on the wooden table and glared out of the misty window into the darkness.

"Have you decided on drinks yet, sir?" The waitress had returned with a notebook and a pencil. Yuki was violently jolted out of his train of thought and blinked stupidly for a few seconds.

"Ah drinks.." He repeated. "Just sake for me, please." He mentally scolded himself. Sake? Would he end up getting back to his apartment completely drunk by the end of the night? What if he ended up hung over at the lab tomorrow and embarassed himself in front of his collegues and bosses?

"Uh.. Make that two glasses of sake." He heard himself saying. The waitress skipped off with his order and disappeared behind the bar before he could stop her and again, he was left to his thoughts.

_I guess all I can do right now, is nothin_g. He mused. _I have no way to contact anyone outside this video game for help - nor a way to escape.. So endangering my cover and taking risks is out of the option. _The last thought left him with a depressed, empty feeling. It carried on until his sake arrived - to which he moodily sipped the vile liquid down and tried to supress the intense feeling of loneliness. Oh how he'd been down this road a _LOT _of times before the Honda girl had come into the picture.. It had been a long time, but the feeling was unmistakable and still as deadly as ever. He sighed and grasped the glass a little tighter.

He failed to noticed a shadow loom over his booth and a stranger's hand suddenly fanning in front of his face violently. Yuki's eyes darted upwards - his mouth already open to politely tell the stranger to piss off and leave him alone. Halfway through his words.. He stopped.

"Shigure?"

Said man grinned and patted the top of Yuki's head affectionately. Yuki blinked for a few seconds - almost certain that he was roaring drunk and halucinating already. But how could that be when he could smell the alcoholish scent of his cousin and feel his hand on his silvery hair? Impossible.. It had to be true. Needless to say, he still looked exactly how Yuki remembered him to look. He still had the same dark, glossy hair that sat unruly around his face and piercing black eyes. He still wore the same style of kimono and no doubt still carried a novel or two of his, under his robes. The only thing that had changed really, was the tired look in his eyes.

Shigure merely gave the room a fleeting glance and slid into the booth beside Yuki - taking the second glass of sake for himself and gulping it down like tap water. He ignored Yuki's disgusted looks and gave a rare, wise-looking smile.

"It looks as if the weeks have not been that kind to you, Yuki." He nodded towards the bags under his eyes and the way his silver hair hung limply over his face.

Oh how he missed the gravely tone of his cousin's voice!

"Well well, I have to say, I never expected to see you here Shigure," he grinned. "It _is _good to see you though."

Shigure nodded. "It's nice to see a familiar face for once.. To be perfectly honest - I didn't know how long it would be till one of you walked in here," he paused and gestured to the bar. "I own this place."

"Why does that not suprise me?" Yuki snorted. "But are you saying that you knew that I was going to be in here tonight?"

"No," Shigure shook his head and sipped his sake. "But from my experience of playing video games.. It's inevitable that the protagonists will not spend the entire game separated. Whether they find each other by pure coincidence of are thrown together by a mass event - it'll happen eventually.. It's just by chance that it was _you_, rather than Tohru or Kyo."

Yuki nodded and found his face and mood involuntarily falling. "So I take it that you haven't heard from them either?"

"No, I've not." Shigure said grimly.

"Kyo can take care of himself," Yuki said confidently. "It's just.. Tohru.. She's so naive and dense and not quick to recognise danger. We don't fully know the extent of this danger of this game and yet this city feels so _alien _and _dangerous _itself!" Yuki could feel the impatience rising within him and the urge punch his cousin in the face for getting them all into this mess, was becoming a lot stronger.

"Relax," Shigure said calmly. "Chances are, Kyo is tearing down the world looking for her as hard as he can. God knows, he's screwed up quite a few times in his lifetime and caused a lot of hurt but he would rather die than see that girl hurt," Shigure glanced down into his glass. "Our precious flower."

"Can you not save the pervertism till we're back home?"

Shigure shrugged. "That's _if _we get back home that is.. I've been trying to search for an escape route myself and keeping my ears about that patrons incase of any strange rumours that may help us - nothing has come up so far though. I can't help but feel as if it's _my _fault.." He trailed off.

"That's because _IT IS_." Yuki's anger flared to life.

Shigure waved away his anger and folded his arms. "Oh well no matter. All we can do now really, is somehow put things right again and try to get back home."

"Easier said than done."

"I know," he nodded. "But for Tohru's sake.. We need to be quick about this. Which is why sitting around and simply feeling sory for ourselves won't suffice - we have to actually do something about it."

Yuki gulped down the last of his sake and traced his slender fingers over the rim of the glass. What he wanted more than anything else, was to scream 'No shit!' in Shigure's high and mighty manner.. But even he hated to admit that his lecherous cousin had a point and at the moment, they were the only allies they had. Screwed as they were, they had to keep on going and ride the game till the very end.

"Yuki, I need you to be strong and don't give up." Shigure said quietly.

The ex-rat merely said nothing but silently nodded and pulled his lab jacket around himself and gave the dark, outside world a fleeting look. Oh how he longed to continue to stay at the nice, welcoming Bar with Shigure, so that they could sit down and begin discussing possible escape routes. But something told him that he needed to keep his cover at the Lab and continue working there in order to find the answer. He was never that much of a scientist, but he had a couple of theories that he wanted to test out the next day. Plus there was the big Techonology Convention that the head of Science Administrations had told him about, of course.

"I'll come see you again soon, Shigure," Yuki promised and reluctantly rose to his feet. "I have to work out some things beforehand though."

Shigure nodded and also rose to his feet. He patted Yuki affectionately on the head again and offered him a small smile. "Be careful out there, Yuki. We don't know what is lurking in the shadows and watching us.."

* * *

**It's been a little while since I updated - but I had some heavy issues to deal with in real life that allocated all of my free time. But I feel like writing again at the moment, so I shall try and crank out as much material as I can and finish this fic. After this fic is finished? Well who knows.. I may solely focus on Oneshots until I finish one of my own Original stories and try and get it published into a book - or I may dedicate myself to another fic. Stay tuned. ^.^**


	6. Bittersweet

"Sohma, are you listening to me?"

Kyo blinked himself back to reality for a few seconds and stared at the person who had been patiently barking his name for the past five minutes. Julius stood with his arms crossed and his eyebrow cocked into a look of confusion. Before his partner could venture a question as to why Kyo had been quiet all afternoon, Kyo waved off his unanswered question with; "I'm fine."

Still confused but somewhat glad that Kyo seemed okay.. Enough.. Julius cleared his throat and glanced skywards - eyes squinting through the dirty air.

"Gene and Denzel are clear to switch places with us in under five minutes or so," Julius announced quietly. "Guard duty is an easy job Sohma, and boring as hell - but someone's gotta do it and keep those pirates in check."

At the word; 'Pirates', Kyo could sense it was his cue to completely ignore Julius's insults towards his girlfriend and her companion - not that he gave a fuck what the rest of the _world _thought about them. He had to admit that guard duty didn't seem like the most exciting job in the world.. But heck. A chance to be close to Tohru and perhaps be able to break her free? Yes please. He'd take it without a second thought.

Kyo ran through a mesh of possible outcomes of the night ahead that faced them and what routes they could take out of the camp. He'd already taken the day to memorize every inch of the encampment and which tents to avoid and what dark corners would be safe to hide in. He'd sussed out that the safest way to escape would probably be to head into the huge neon city that loomed over them - chances are that the three would eventually blend into the crowd and would find a better place to hide until Kyo could explain the situation to Tohru and they could work out their next move. He inwardly snorted at how big the task actually _seemed _- all the while, they needed to try and find Shigure and Yuki as well! Kyo honestly did not know where he would be by dawn and what state he would be in - not that he cared anyway. The main task was to get Tohru as far away from the Army as humanly possible. If he died trying? It would be a sacrifice he'd be more than willing to make.

Failure was not an option.

As the pair neared the prisoner tent, Kyo could see the smirk on Denzel's face already as soon as he caught sight of them. He signalled sarcastically to Kyo and nodded respectfully to Julius - who nodded back promptly and asked for a progress report.

Denzel shrugged - the shark grin plastered on his face again. "That Hotrah chick is a handful. She tried to escape with the smaller one earlier 'till I knocked her unconcious with that," he nodded towards a metal pole that was leaned against the guard post. "Gave them both a beating and dragging them back inside and tied them up again."

Julius frowned. "And where was Gene when this happened?"

"Got called in by the General," Denzel shrugged. "He's still over there now if you want to talk to him."

Julius quickly excused himself and jogged towards the direction of the General's tent. As soon as he was out of sight - Kyo darted forwards and grabbed Denzel by the scruff of the neck and forced him to look into his amber ones.

He wanted so badly to kill the fuck out of the man who just proudly announced that he'd beaten the crap out of his girlfriend - even now, Denzel's shark grin was still on his face, despite the obvious fact that he might die. Kyo could feel the anger filling up his entire body with hatred. The only other times he'd felt so angry - were towards Akito or perhaps even more stronger. His body cried out in a mixture for intense bloodlust and Tohru - was she okay? Was she hurt badly? He felt his hold on Denzel's neck become stronger, until the man's eyes began to pop out of his sockets and his skin turn a nasty shade of purple. He was also beginning to emit a small screeching type of sound that began to rise slowly in volume. Kyo quickly glanced around to check that no one was watching. He raised his leg and booted Denzel through the entrance flaps to the tent and followed suit - quickly sealing the entrance behind him.

Tohru and Hotrah were sat next to their food trays and looked as if they had been in the middle of eating and talking seriously. Kyo could feel Tohru's euphoria and confusion mixed together, whereas Hotrah let out the small breath she'd been holding, and resumed eating her meal.

It was then that Kyo seriously looked at Tohru for the first time in about a day. She looked more beautiful than his memories or imagination could ever capture fully. It was like it was impossible for her to ever be _ugly_. Even in her pale and malnorished state, she still kept her usual elegant demeanour and it never seemed to desert her. Kyo felt the momentarily calm mood pass in the space of a minute as he caught sight of the purplish bruise that began to form on her jaw and the scratch's that adorned her arms and legs. He felt his gaze move to a choking Denzel on the floor and immediately towered over him.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't fucking kill you right now." Kyo said dangerously. At his words, he could feel the tension in the air spike uncomfortably. At his suprise, Denzel rolled over onto his back and locked eyes with the Sohma and began to _laugh. _The sickening sound ran throughout the huge tent and reverberated through Kyo's ears until he could feel a cold shiver run up his spine. This man.. Did not seem entirely human.

Kyo kneeled down and seized Denzel by the throat once more, before raising his fist and punching the man square in the face and felt the sickening crunch of a breaking nose under his knuckles. It was almost comical how far Denzel flew across the tent and landed heavily on the other side. If not for the situation, Kyo would have laughed.

There was a flurry of movement to his right and a rush of brunette hair that enveloped him in the sweet scent of home. Tohru's arms were around his waist tightly and her head was buried deep in his chest. He had the feeling that even if he _wanted _to pry her off his body - it would never happen.

"Tohru." He breathed and inhaled the scent of her hair and kissed it delicately. Her small body was shaking uncontrollably on the verge of what only Kyo could describe as 'near tears'. He rubbed the traces of blood that were dripping from his knuckles, to his camo jeans and wound his arms around the girl and held her just as tighter. After a few seconds to his joy, she stopped shaking as much and breathed a little easier. Her face rose up and delicately pressed her quivering lips to his own ones - to which he eagerly returned and kissed her with every molecule and fibre he possessed.

He missed this. How their lips fit so perfectly well together and how she felt so _warm_ and at home in his arms. He wanted desperately to lean into her ear and tell her exactly how much he loved her and how after this mess was sorted out, he was going to spend the rest of his life with her. Together. He was pretty damn sure that after this experience, she probably felt the exact same way.

There was a groan from the corner of the tent as Denzel slowly rose to his feet, covering his face with his arms as streams of blood covered him. He pointed accusingly at Kyo and cackled.

"Consorting with pirates!" He spat. "Is a sentance worse than death.. You'll be judged."

Kyo smirked and promptly moved Tohru behind his back, staring defiantly at his former comrade.

"You think I give a shit?" The orange haired boy remarked. His eyes fell upon Hotrah, who was still calmly eating the flimsy bread that had been given to them. The woman finished her meal and rose to her feet, dusting the crumbs from her dirty rags and cast a disgusted look towards Denzel.

"I'm guessing you came to break us free?" She snorted and looked at Kyo. "It's about time, don't ya think?"

"Yeah, definetly." Kyo agreed and grabbed Tohru's hand and entertwined their fingers. He signalled towards to the entrance to the tent and quickly peered outside. He stood back satisfied, no one was coming to kill them for now. In truth, he was very lucky - if there ever was a time for a good escape, it would be then.

Kyo turned back to the sounds of a small scrap as Hotrah had triumphantly knocked Denzel unconcious with her bare fists, and was in the process of tying him to the metal mast in the middle of the tent. She secured the thick ropes in a succession of complicated knots and twists around his dirty ankles and wrists - being careful to avoid the pools of blood that littered the ground. She took a few more moments to dig around in his coat pockets and pulled out a rusty key. She quickly used it in the padlock that adorned her feet and the chains fell away.

"What's the plan?" She huffed, working the key into Tohru's padlock.

Kyo scratched the back of his head. "Get out of this camp, head to the city and lay low for a while."

Hotrah's eyebrows rose. "The city? Isn't that kind of a death sentance in itself?"

Kyo fought to fight off his irritation. "Anywhere is better than _this _place right now.." He turned to Tohru. "Are you okay?"

The brunette haired girl nodded meekly and rubbed the chain imprints on her ankles. "I'm fine. Thanks for coming to get us Kyo."

Kyo snorted. "Come on, you think I'd leave you in this hellhole? You know me much more than that, Tohru." He cracked a small smile to which she returned with her own gorgeous one and nodded. She affectionately squeezed his fingers a little tighter and glanced at Hotrah.

"Oh that's right.. You two haven't been introduced properly yet," she smiled. "Kyo, this is my friend - Hotrah. Hotrah, this is my boyfriend, Kyo." She'd tactfully left out the part about how hers and Hotrah's names seemed to be anagrams of each other and were somehow connected in a way that they didn't fully understand yet. She didn't see the sense in worrying Kyo further after he'd come to the effort of rescuing them. As Kyo and Hotrah exchanged short greetings, Tohru eyed the unconcious form of Denzel with caution and tugged on Kyo's hand.

"We should go now." She whispered.

"Yeah," Kyo agreed. "I know my way around the camp so follow me and don't take risks." He looked more pointedly at Hotrah, who just smirked and shrugged. Kyo pulled Toru towards the back of the tent and managed to one-handedly dig around in his pocket for his combat knife. He didn't feel like letting go of Tohru just yet.

With the knife, he managed to cut out a small square into the material of the tent - just big enough for the three of them to squeeze through.

It was beginning to get dark outside and the air was considerablly getting colder and icily bit his skin - even through his heavy jacket. As soon as Tohru was through the makeshift door, he swept his jacket around her shoulders and her flimsy clothing. She blushed a little with whatever blood she had left and thanked him. Even with the extra warmth that he provided, Kyo still couldn't help but frown at how _frail_ and small she looked. Would she even survive the journey into the city with the state she was in?

Without a second thought, Kyo seized Tohru by the skinny wrists and pulled her effortlessly onto his back, securing her arms around his neck. She was dangerously light.

"Kyo!" She gasped into his neck.

"No questions," he stopped her gently. "Hotrah - I'm gonna need you to be helpful and make sure we aren't being followed as we go. I'll lead the way."

"Sure thing," Hotrah nodded and narrowed her eyes. "But what if we get caught? We'll definetly all be killed on the spot - _you _along with us, for betraying them."

Kyo snorted. "I'm not their fucking dog. I don't have any love for them and I never will," his voice took on an icy tone. "If Tohru wasn't here - I'd have ended up killing them by now.." He couldn't deny that it was probably the honest truth. If not for the innocent girl clinging for dear life to his neck, he'd have no second thoughts to marching back to his team and murdering the lot of them. He inwardly shuddered at the _intense _bloodlust he felt earlier and the way his vision seemed to have turned a shade of crimson.

Kyo lasped into an awkward silence and began to lead the way around the east campsite - weaving in and out of tents - his eyes narrowed and waiting to catch the first signs of a possible danger. Conversation between Tohru and Hotrah was also sporadic. Neither one seemed to want to indulge in a full-blown conversation and risk being caught by a passing mercenary or guard. If it were any other situation - Kyo would have welcomed the silence and used it as an opportunity to think. But at that moment, the silence only seemed to intensify the danger of the situation and what they were risking.

At one point, Tohru leaned close and put her lips to Kyo's ear, making him shudder a little.

"Stop beating yourself up. Kyo will never be a killer," she murmured gently. "I know my Kyo."

Damnmit. How was it that she always seemed to clock on to exactly what he was thinking and feeling? It was a gift that she'd always been able to have. If something pissed him off or bothered him - she would be the first to pick up on it as soon as he'd even _felt_ the emotion. And then somehow miraculously, she'd be able to get rid of the negativity and make him feel better. She was his drug.

He was just about to whisper a reply, when there was a loud roar that reverberated across the dark campsite - and suddenly there were torchlights everywhere and confused men stepping out of their tents to investigate.

"THEY'VE GONE," someone screamed. "THE PRISONERS HAVE ESCAPED." There was a brief silence before the bewildered mercenaries could grasp the situation. There were cries and shouts as they retreated back into their tents to retrieve their body armour and weapons before starting the hunt.

Kyo felt his blood run ice cold at the sight of hundreds of men carrying assult rifles and shotguns. Sure enough, he could defend the girls and himself against small groups - but over a _hundred_? No way. They'd be shot dead in seconds.

_Fuck. We might actually die._

It didn't help much that he could also feel Tohru's heartbeat racing a million times faster - matching perfectly with the roaring in his ears of his own heart. He hitched her up more securely on his back and began to jog through the trees and bushes. Hotrah was struggling to keep up and panting rather heavily - Kyo felt bad about not slowing down for her, but with the stakes as it was - they'd all be killed if they sacrificed a few crucial seconds to slow down.

He took a few deeps breaths and brought a mental map of the campsite into his mind. He tried to visualize every possible path and route they could take into the city - but each was guarded by at least two or three men. He growled and expelled the routes from the list until there was one alternative that remained - climbing over the city walls.

"Hotrah." He hissed and slowed back a little until they jogged side by side. She turned to him with a half-hearted grin.

"This is all so exciting, eh?"

"Yeah, it's great," he said impatiently. "Do you think you're able to climb with one arm?" He watched as she quickly patted her stump with her hand and turned back to him and nodded confidently.

"I can do it."

"Good," he sighed with relief a little. "I have an idea. It's pretty risky and there's always the chance that we might be caught," he paused and opted not to add the whole 'we'll be shot down' issue. "But if it works - we'll be free."

Hotrah nodded. "It sounds good. Do you think you can fight, if we get caught?"

He snorted and smirked. "I can fight." Of course, he wasn't going to mention all of the times in which Yuki had continuously kicked his ass. But just by looking at Hotrah, he sussed that she wasn't exactly a novice in combat either.

"K-Kyo." Tohru said in a strange voice. When he tried to turn his head as much as he could to look at her, he saw that she was looking behind them with a horrified expression on her face. He followed her gaze to see about twenty orange lights bounding after them, increasing speed. Behind the lights, were the sounds of heavy booted feet and the ragged breath of mercenaries. Kyo cursed aloud and ordered Hotrah to run as fast she possibly could - whilst he followed behind and directed her on the direction.

It was an incredibly painful few minutes before the trees and bushes thinned and peeled away to reveal the grey city walls that loomed over them. Kyo skidded to a halt and quickly swung Tohru on the ground next to him. He could see hear the thudding of feet and shouts edge closer to them as they were slowly boxed in.

"Ladder!" Hotrah yelled and pointed towards the corner of the wall. Sure enough, there was a rusted metal ladder leaned precariously up against the concrete. It didn't look as if it was the most sturdy thing in the world, but Kyo decided that it was better than nothing.

"Tohru, Hotrah," he panted. "Get up there - I'll follow."

Tohru turned immediately at his words and frowned. "Don't you dare stay and buy us time." She meant for her words to sound authorative - but Kyo caught onto the desperate tone in her voice and shook his head.

"I don't plan on leaving you alone, Tohru," he said evenly. "But if they do show up while you're trying to escape. I _will _stay behind and slow them down.. You are my most important thing in the world and I want you to get away from this." He would have liked to say more or kiss her. But Hotrah had already scampered up the ladder and waited impatiently on the top.

"Come on!" She said urgently.

Kyo watched as Tohru inwardly fought with herself on what she should do next. The expression on his face, convinced her to turn and begin to scramble up the rungs with her fragile body. One she neared the top, Hotrah's arm whipped down and effortlessly hauled Tohru over the edge. Kyo sighed happily. They were both safe for now.

He jogged over and had only just placed on boot on the bottom rung, when a horrific sound ripped through the trees, the sound cracked upleasantly. Kyo's head whipped round to stare into the trees and there was the first of the hoarde, a smoking gun in his hands.

It was then that a sudden intense pain exploded from his leg and he could feel hot liquid seeping down his leg and puddled the grass. He looked down and tried to suppress a wave of nausea as he realised that his leg was completely red and saturated in his own blood. He gripped the ladder with white, shaky hands and bit his lip in order to survive the dizzy spell. In truth, he wasn't quite entirely sure what was going on. He watched in agony, as the man with the gun rose it skyward and aimed far above Kyo's head. Kyo followed the barrell of the gun to see Hotrah and Tohru still waiting at the top for him. For some reason, Tohru was in tears and had to be restrained by her friend, from climbing back down to him.

But why? He wanted to ask. Why was Tohru so upset and why would she want to risk her life to come back down to him? His leg throbbed painfully as if answering the silent question and the fog inside his mind began to fade. He came to the realisation that he had been shot.

_SHIT._

Kyo fumbled on the grass for something - _anything. _His hands grabbed onto what felt like a jagged rock and he launched it as hard as he could at the mercenary with the gun. There was a sickening crunch as it collided with his head and a rogue bullet shot from the gun and shot into the wall.

With great effort, he turned back to the ladder and began to limp upwards as fast as he possibly could. He felt sick and the loss of blood was beginning to make him feel a little sleepy. He wondered if they had time to take a nap as soon as he reached the top.

"KYO!" Tohru screamed and extended her pale hand, to which he took gratefully and let her pull him upwards. It was so strange. He felt as if she was pulling him into heaven with her. Where they could live for eternity together.. Forever.

"Not good," he heard Hotrah's voice. "He's losing blood."

He didn't quite understand.. The words didn't make sense. The only sound in his head was the sound of Tohru crying hysterically and cradelling his head in her hands. He could feel her tears drop onto his face, but he didn't quite have the strength to wipe them away. From somewhere down below, he could hear the angry shouts of men and accusations. Kyo's eyes opened blearily and he watched as Hotrah screamed curses down at them and kicked the ladder to the ground far below. She crouched beside them both and gently placed a hand on Tohru's bony shoulder.

"We need to get him help Tohru," she said gently with an edge of urgency. "He'll die if we stay here."

_Die? Am I going to die?_ He wondered silently. At once, he could feel all the regret had once felt - shoved upon him like heavy boulders. So many things he hadn't been able to accomplish yet and so many things he wanted to try in the future. He had only just gotten together with Tohru _finally_. After all those months of dreaming about her beautiful face and how much he wanted to be with her.. It hardly seemed fair.

_I really, really don't wanna die. _Again, he could feel tears on his face. Tohru's? His own? He couldn't work it out.

He could feel someone wrapping their arms under his shoulders and holding him upwards, whilst someone else managed to lift his legs. He opened his mouth to ask what they were doing and insist that they concentrated on running away instead. But no words came and instead, he was met by the cold loneliness of utter darkness.


	7. Intentions

It was shameless really.

Yuki Sohma had spent the last few hours holed up within his lab - a stack of video games overshadowing the table next to him with titles ranging from fantasy to war, to futuristic themes. In truth, he didn't really know what had posessed him to seek Shigure's advice on games and where he could purchase some with his payslip. It was quite obvious to him, that he wasn't a gamer in the _slightest_ and failed even the most easiest of tasks on games. The only thing he'd learned from his intense gaming sessions, was that the virtual world played by it's own rules and was very unpredictable. After a little while though, Yuki had managed to figure out that in most games - there tended to be a big event that ended up in a messy conclusion with a 'final boss'.

"Final boss." He mused. The whole concept still seemed silly and childish. But then he took one look out of the huge window at the neon city, and Yuki's faith in video games was restored again.

The problem was now though, when would a supposed final boss show up and how? Would one of them turn into a huge fire breathing dragon and devour the whole city? Yuki rolled his eyes at his imagination and began to chew on the top of his pen in thought. His mind wandered to the Technology Convention that occured a few days ago. He wondered what was the big secret that the Lab had produced and sold to the Government. It must have been pretty big for half of the employees to still be in the dark about it.

"Concentrate. Breathe." He scolded himself and picked up a console controller, staring intently at the television perched on the table in front of him. Within minutes, he was immersed in the complex storyline once again - taking mental notes of everything that may be useful to his situation.

He had no idea on hour many hours he'd spent glued to the television. He sussed that from the position of the sun - it was around six in the afternoon and dregs of orange sun rays were filtering into the lab, through the cream blinds. For the first time in what felt like forever, he sighed heavily and put down the controller and turned off the console and television. He arched his back until it clicked loudly and several places and yawned. It had been a long day, with such little results.

"How much longer?" He spoke aloud and gazed at the setting sun. With every day that passed, he gradually began to forget what it was like to be at home and see Tohru, Kyo and Shigure every morning and evening. He missed sitting round the table in the evenings, talking about trivial things - whilst Tohru cooked something delicious for them all and on rare occasions, when they would all watch a movie together in the living room. It was the little moments that he missed. Hell.. He even missed Kyo's company.

At least he'd manage to find Shigure though - it was a start at least.

With a pang of guilt, he realised that he hadn't gone to see Shigure in a few days - due to his intense new gaming habits. If he was starting to feel the strain now, would Shigure be feeling the same things.. Or oblvious as always? The man was a complete mystery and hid so much, that even Yuki wasn't sure how his mind worked. The only person in the entire world that could make accurate guesses, was Hatori.

Yuki's eyebrows rose. Would any of the other Sohma's back home realise that they had disappeared? Or perhaps time didn't work in the video game, the same as the real world? Yuki made a mental note to discuss it with Shigure.

But firstly, there were a few things that he needed to sort out first.

He made his way over to his desk and sank down in the leather computer chair. He tapped the clean, white keys of the clearly expensive keyboard and logged into the system with the employee profile. It took barely a few seconds for the computer to recognise the username and password and soon enough, Yuki was tapped into the building.

He bit his lip and sailed through the documents and programs on the shared public documents. He frowned a little as he began to notice a similar pattern - there was no public documentation of the Technology Convention on the shared file system. He paused and leaned back on his chair until it creaked. Surely - even _after t_he Government had bought the project - even _one _document would be available for an average employee to read?

There was an unpleasent feeling in the pit of his stomach. It only took a few seconds before Yuki opened the console and began to try to hack into the Science Admin's profile. He wasn't exactly the best hacker in the world - but he was smart with computers and learned easily.

It took a few attempts and the room grew gradually hotter. Yuki managed to finally crack the password and logged into to the profile.

He smiled instantly as floods of documents were now available to his fingertips - he scanned the suspiciously named files and programs as fast as his fingers could type. He found himself scanning through reports and journals which he found to belong to the Scientists that worked on the project.

_**'After many tests, we've found the test subject to be troublesome in some areas of development. To remedy this, Parsons suggested that we attach a memory and behavior core to subject and conduct further tests.'**_

Yuki frowned heavily as he scanned the document. It was filled with words and phrases that he didn't quite understand. There was a diagram of the human skeleton and brain cross referenced with that of what looked like a robot.

_**'We are pleased to admit that this is the first subject that we can successfully call a Cyborg aka Elite Prototype 117. We firmly believe that from the basis of prosthetic limbs and artificial intelligene, we have created the new age of law enforcement - which would undoubtedly keep the law in order and deal with the increasing problem of pirates. Major Gene Havock of TSA has backed us on this decision and would like to put the Cyborg Elite Prototype 117 to use as soon as possible. We also would like to propose the idea of an all-robot army, should the need of war arise or riots from citizens. It should be noted though, that these Cyborgs are trained to kill and therefore enforcing the law with no uneccary mistakes.'**_

Yuki felt his blood run cold as he read the rest of the report. His mind couldn't quite comprehend the enormity of the situation and what it meant. He could feel beads of sweat dropping down the side of his head and a shiver run up his spine like spiders.

The very laboratory he currently he worked in, manufactured Cyborgs from bits of humans and discarded robotics - and sold them to the Government for the use of becoming _weapons_. That way, the Government would be free to enforce rules as they saw fit and no body would be able to do a thing about it. It was.. Outrageous. Something that he only expected ever to see in a really bad Sci-Fi film or book. To know that the actual Government, was planning to control the population by force was blood chilling.

A metallic sound in the hallway, cause Yuki to jump in his seat. His fingers flew over the keyboard and he quickly logged out and closed the forbidden documents. He pulled on his lab jacket hurriedly and pushed the games and console under his desk, so they were barely recognisable. He seized a Scientific looking book out of one of his draws and yanked it open to a random page open and began to scan the jumbled words.

The door to his room swung open heavily to reveal a Security guard with a nightstick. He was playing with the handle and twisting it in an out of his fingers with adept balance. He first scanned the room - his small coal eyes surveying every corner, before them falling upon Yuki and staring silently at him for a few seconds. Yuki waited for a few moments, before placing the book down on his desk and looking up at the visitor with fake curiosity.

"Can I help you?" He asked pleasantly, flashing a smile.

"Yuki Sohma?" The man barked and ignored Yuki's politeness. Yuki's eyebrows rose and he nodded.

"That's me."

The Security guard's grip on his nightstick tightened and he nodded slowly. "You will have to come with me." He said blankly.

Yuki's eyebrows furrowed - his polite facade peeled away to reveal irritation. He eyed that man, "Why?" He challenged.

The guard looked as if he was inwardly sighing. He pointed the nightstick to Yuki and twirled it threateningly within his fingers and indicated his head to the hallway.

"You have accessed files that were not supposed to see," he growled. "Come with me now, or face the consequences for denying my authority."

Yuki winced visibly as he thought of the documents he documents he'd just read on 'authority' and the lengths the city would go to, to enforce it. He properly looked at the guard and took in every detail about him. There seemed to be a metallic shine under the cuff of his outstretched arm - and to Yuki's horror - he realised that it was quite possible that the man was an actual cyborg too.

_"These Cyborgs are trained to kill..."_

Yuki inwardly cursed and quickly scanned the entire room for a way of escape. He could fight very well - but up against a cyborg with impeccable strength and a high pain resistance? He'd much rather take his chances to escape. He just hoped with all of his might that no one else had discovered his hacking abilities yet..

He quickly made up his mind and launched the computer screen towards the cyborg. The man quickly smashed through it, as it sailed through the air towards him. But it was already too late and Yuki had used the distraction to slip out of the nearest window and dove into the bushes outside.

He estimated that it wouldn't be too long before a whole robotic army was soon after him. He briefly wondered exactly _how _he would be punished for hacking into restricted files and running away from their guards. Firing? Death? Judging by the corrupt forces,he assumed the second option.

Luckily, the sun had by now set and it was dark and welcoming. Yuki knew off by heart the way to Shigure's Bar and all of the routes he could take to get there. It was basic knowledge that he shouldn't take the main roads and perhaps should waste some extra time taking a long, complicated path - but now wasn't the time and he desperately _needed_ to talk to Sihure as soon as possible.

As usual, he avoided as many security cameras as he could and took the time to dump his beloved lab coat and ID in the grey river that ran through the heart of the city. He quickly jogged down the back alleys and dark, residential areas until the familiar sight of the Bar welcomed him into it's warm arms. As soon as he'd scampered inside and closed the heavy set door behind him with a sigh of relief, Shigure was already in the entrance hallway with a box of medical supplies.

"Yuki," he said. "You got here too, huh?"

"Y-Yes," Yuki panted and rested his hands on his legs. "Shigure - you wouldn't believe what I managed to find out today!"

Shigure said nothing, but merely brushed past Yuki and quickly bolted the door shut firmly and dimmed the lights as far as they would go. Yuki noticed that there was no gentle rumble of chatter from the patrons that night and most of the lights seemed to be switched off with the curtains drawn tightly shut. He frowned and stepped forwards into the lounge and bar. Nope.. No one else seemed to be around.

"Shigure," Yuki said slowly and turned round, his knowledge melted away for the moment. "Where _is _everyone?"

Shigure adopted a grave look. "It's been a long day for everyone, it seems." He said nothing else on the matter and signalled for Yuki to follow him upstairs - turning off the lights as he went and locking every door behind them. He followed Shigure down a regal looking hallway, with rich crimson carpeting and plants adorning the walls in pretty, hanging baskets. Shigure stopped at a door on the far left and quickly motioned for Yuki to enter.

His mouth dropped open a little as soon as he caught sight of the room.

"Tohru!" He gasped. The brunette was perched on the end of a pink plushy chair with her hands held tightly in her lap. But she looked different than Yuki remembered - more tired and mentally drained. She had tear streaks down each sides of her face and an untouched cup of tea in front of her. She blinked and sniffed and stared up at him. She squealed and enveloped him in a bone crushing hug.

"Yuki," she whispered. "You're okay.." Her words died on her lips and she pressed them together and said nothing more. Yuki stepped backwards and placed his hands on her shoulders and stared into her eyes.

"What is it, what happened?"

She chose to say nothing - but another girl came forward from the corner of the room and gently placed her one arm on Tohru's head - eyeing Yuki cautiously.

He was half tempted to ask to why she only had one arm - but his politeness held him back from doing so. Instead, he took in the sight of her leathery, darker skin and the deep set of her piercing gaze. Womanly muscles strained the arms of her dirty, ripped clothing. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that she and Tohru looked very much the same - both drained and tired and weak.

Shigure walked forwards and carefully pressed the medical kit in Tohru's shaking hands.

"Here," he said kindly. "Go take that into him. He'll be waking up soon and I'm sure you're the first person he'll want to see." He nodded towards a plain white door in the corner of the room. Tohru nodded silently and quickly disappeared behind it.

As soon as she was gone, Shigure gestured towards a futon in the middle of the room, the tanned one-armed girl and Yuki quickly got themselves comfortable under it and watched silently, as Shigure seated himself down calmly.

"Hotrah - this is Yuki, a friend of ours.. Yuki, this is Hotrah - a friend of Tohru's."

"Nice to meet you." Yuki smiled.

"Hey." She replied.

"We have a lot of things to talk about it seems," Shigure pondered. "And a lot of things to work out.." He trailed off. "Yuki, Kyo was shot in the leg trying to escape with Tohru and Hotrah from an army base outside of the city limits. He holed up in the next room - he'll be just fine though - I managed to see to that.. But Tohru's very upset about it, obviously." He glanced downwards - as did Hotrah.

Yuki felt his knuckles clench and the blood drain from his face. He disliked Kyo - but couldn't help but feel sorry for the ex-cat unconcious in the next room. He couldn't even begin to imagine the agony that Kyo had felt or been through.

"Now Yuki," Shigure sighed. "We'll start with you first.. What have you discovered today?"

Yuki bit his lip, suddenly unsure of where he should begin his recollections. "Where should I begin?"

"From the start," Shigure said quietly. "Tell us everything."


	8. Narrow Complications

"I'm so sorry, Kyo."

Tohru clenched her fists on her lap so hard that they turned a sickly shade of white. Or _more w_hiter anyway. She was aware of how thin she was and how sickly she looked. If not for the peacefully sleeping boy in front of her, she would be hidden away and disgusted with how awful she looked. But there was no denying that he was a million times more important than how she looked.

He looked like he normally did sleeping. His eyelids fluttered slightly as if he were dreaming and his breathing had a nice, rhythimitic sound to it. His normally tanned skin was a little more pale of course and there was a slight hint of tiredness under his eyes, but he still retained the gorgeousness that he was blessed with. Tohru couldn't help but smile softly as she outstretched her hand and gently pushed away the hair hanging over his face. She breathed a sigh of relief - feeling that his temperature had decreased a little bit. Shigure was right - he _was_ going to be okay.

Her eyes moved down to his naked torso and thento his heavily bandaged leg. She winced, thinking about how Shigure had to attack the wound with a pair of tweasers to pluck out the bullet - whilst Hotrah held him down - should he wake up and figet with pain.

After that, Shigure had worked his magic and quickly bandaged up the wound quickly, cleaned up the excess blood and lay Kyo down in the huge double bed, situated in the middle of the room. Shigure had already closed and bolted the windows and the curtains so they wouldn't be found easily.

"I'm sorry." She whispered once again. A huge part of her heart, blamed itself for what happened to Kyo. Her Kyo. If not for her wasting time and being stronger and believing in him - he would have gotten up the ladder quicker and would be sitting with her right now - arms around her and discussing their next move.

Damn.. Why couldn't she be strong enough to protect _him_? She could barely even look at his wound, without shaking.

"I'm so pathetic." She sighed. "Here I am, feeling guilty and yet I haven't even thanked you for coming to our rescue yet!" She brought her knees together and bowed her head to the dusty floorboard. "Thank you Kyo for coming to save me. I know it was hard and you must have felt a lot of pain.. But thank you. I don't think I can ever repay you.."

"Don't talk so wet, Tohru.."

She visibly jumped and her head snapped up and met Kyo's amber eyes. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of his crooked smile and the way his eyes danced silently - obviously glad to still be alive. She resisted the urge to leap on him and hug him to death.

"Y..You're awake." She murmured.

"Good," he snorted. "As for your little speech there. Touching as it was - I'm going to ignore it.. I don't regret coming to safe you for _anything_." He gently tugged on the bedsheets to reveal his wounded leg. He merely blinked at it and sighed with happiness, resting back on the several pillows that Tohru had previously placed there.

"Feels to good to be awake." He yawned.

Tohru swallowed her shock and nodded silently, earning a reproachful look from Kyo. In silence, he pulled the bedsheets up and gestured for her to climb in next to him - which she eagerly did.

As soon as she was by his side, Kyo snaked his arms around her and pulled her close to his chest. He leaned into her head and inhaled her scent. She felt amazingly warm and safe in his arms and placed her hands on his bare chest, tracing the contours of his taut stomach with her fingers. She felt him gently prise her chin upwards and press his warm lips to hers until it felt like her heart would explode with love. Her hands suddenly found themselves tied in his hair and his hands perched on her waist. They moved so well in synch together until she was pretty sure that they became one entity. One heart.

He pulled away reluctantly and stared at her with clouded eyes. He gently brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear and sent her heart racing.

"I love you, Tohru." His smile was so gorgeous, that it melted her heart and she blushed a little.

"I love you more, Kyo." She grinned impishly.

"Impossible," he laughed. "You would not believe how much it _sucked _to be away from you for so long. I thought I'd end up going crazy." He fell silent and a pained look crossed his face and Tohru knew that it wasn't just his wound that caused him pain. She leaned upwards and placed a chaste kiss on his forehead and his nose.

"We're together now, right?" She sighed happily and rested her head on his chest.

"We are," he agreed. "It was hell - but we finally managed to get out of that place," he paused. "Speaking of which Tohru - did you and Hotrah drag me here?" He gestured around the room. "Where _are _we?"

Tohru sat up in the bed and stretched her arms. "It was hard - but Hotrah and I managed to carry you to the nearest possible building we could.. You.. You were losing so much blood and I was scared you wouldn't make it," she paused and sniffed a little. "When we reached this bar, I asked a waitress if we could put you upstairs and give you medical attention.. Of course - we told her that the wound was from a dog bite though," she snaked her arms around Kyo's neck. "Once we got you upstairs - I yelled for help and the owner came running.. Oh.. It was a shock but the owner is Shigure." She grinned.

Kyo did a double take. "_Shigure? _Shigure's here?"

"In the next room with Hotrah.. Yuki also got here not too long ago," she tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Although I don't know how he knew we'd be here. I literally came into see you minutes after."

She fell silent and let Kyo take it the news. His expressions ranged from excitement, to resentment, to shock, to confusion. He shook his head and pressed his fingers to his temples and gently rubbed them. After a few seconds, he smiled deviously.

"We're all together again!" He said. "Do you know what this means? It means we can start working out how we can get home!" His eyes flared with excitement and he sat up quickly - forgetting about his leg and wincing slightly.

Tohru nodded and sat forwards with him, entertwining their hands together and absentmindedly playing with his fingers.

She too, could feel the excitement within herself that they might actually be home _very soon_. But after her experience of the video game world, she had learned not to blindly have high hopes and to always stay alert with caution. She expected that they would not be able to leave the world that easily. _PLUS _there was also the small matter of the Secret Army after their lives.

Tohru was aware that she suddenly felt very tired - which did not go unnoticed by Kyo. All of the stress and pain and loneliness and worry had suddenly caught up with her and causing her to feel drowsy. The heat of the room also didn't help very much.

"Time for bed I think." Kyo whispered. He gently lay back and pulled Tohru backwards until she was snug in his arms once again. She bitterly tried to protest and fight back - insisting that she needed to look after him. But one kiss on her forehead and a stroke of her face, Tohru was fast asleep and silently breathing beside him.

Kyo did not feel the slightest bit tired at first and enjoyed just simply watching her sleep, and the way her chest rose and fell in time with her breathing. But somewhere along the line, he must have drifted off himself into a dreamless world. Because the next thing he knew, his eyes had fluttered open to a lighter looking room and his body felt strangely rejuvanted.

He also could not deny that it was the best night's sleep, in what felt like _forever_. He judged by the small smile on Tohru's face, she felt the same.

He carefully swung his body off the bed - silently cursing as every movement seemed to send his leg into a spasm of throbbing. Apart from his near death experience though, he felt pretty fine.

Kyo managed to get himself to his feet and slowly make his way over to the door, only stopping to turn around and check that Tohru was still sleeping peacefully. Good, she was. He pushed the door open as quietly as possible and snapped it shut behind him.

The lounge-like room was quiet. The form of Hotrah was sprawled across the large sofa and Yuki appeared to have fallen asleep under the kotatsu in the middle of the room. Kyo's eyes narrowed a little as a wave of nostalgia washed over him at the sight of the ex-rat. He'd missed bickering with him every day.

"Kyo?"

Kyo glanced towards the desk that had been pushed to the side of the room. Shigure stopped what he was doing for a moment and stared down his reading glasses at the orange haired boy. Kyo could not help but grin.

"Shigure," he greeted. "Long time, no see."

There was a sense of relief and excitement in Shigure's dark eyes. He rose to his feet immediately and danced over to Kyo and prodded his bandaged leg lightly.

"How does it feel?" The man asked.

Kyo shrugged. "It feels okay."

"That's good," Shigure sighed. "Our little Tohru was so upset and anxious that you were going to die. It took a while for us to get her to calm down," he dramatically fanned his face with his hand. "Still, you're okay now and we're all reunited again. That's what's important, I guess."

"Yeah," Kyo agreed. "What's the situation anyway Shigure? How the fuck are we getting home?" He opted not to beat the crap out of the man for getting them all in this situation in the first place - he'd wait to do that _until _they were completely safe that is.

The man must have seen the restrained anger in Kyo's eyes though, for he smartly took a step backwards and removed his hand from the bandages. He studied Kyo steadily for any signs of violence and sighed.

"The problem is a lot worse than I feared," he said quietly. "Yuki told me something disturbing yesterday. Ridiculous but disturbing," he paused. "It seems like this city will soon be overrun by cyborgs and robots."

Kyo waited to see if Shigure would say anything more. He he didn't, Kyo wobbled upright with a strange expression on his face. He ran througb Shigure's words in his mind again - in any order that they would make sense. No luck.

"Robots?" Kyo said incredulously. "_Robots?_"

"Robots." Shigure concluded.

"Is this is one of you sick jokes Shigure, now really is not the time-.."

Shigure raised his hand impatiently and cut Kyo off. "This is _not _a joke. Yuki saw the evidence himself by hacking into the database of the Laboratory he worked at, that manufactured the cyborgs and sold them to the Government for a tidy profit.

"This isn't a science-fiction film," Kyo said flatly. "Cyborgs don't exist."

"Not to us," Shigure said impatiently. "But please do try to remember dear Kyo, that we a_re _indeed inside a video game and therefore the normal rules of logic do not apply in this world."

Kyo narrowed his eyes. "Well you really do like some sucky video games.." He retorted weakly.

Shigure opened his mouth to say something more, but the deafening sound of smashed glass and gunshots downstairs - stopped him dead mid sentance and his head snapped towards the door. Kyo judged that by the sounds of it, there were about twenty men searching through the rooms downstairs and thudding up the stairs - closing in fast on their position. They were barking orders at each other - one voice rang loduly above the rest and Kyo quickly identified it as Gene's authorative roar.

"Damn." Shigure cursed. He immediately strode forwards and shook Hotrah and Yuki awake roughly - who both protested and stared at him with bleary eyes. Kyo swung on his working leg and limped back through to the bedroom - crashing loudly from the door.

At once, Tohru shot up straight in the bed and stared wide-eyed at him.

"No questions," he breathed and pressed his finger to her lips. "We have to get out of here _now_." He quickly pulled his shirt over his head, whilst Tohru scrambled out of the sheets and slipped into her shoes. He could tell plainly from the expression on her face, that she was scared and wanted to ask what the hell was going on - and he absolutely hated to make her worry unneccsarily. But he judged that by the sound of the mob in the hallway - they had started to boot down doors and scope the rooms quickly before moving onto the next.

The door swung open once again and Shigure, Hotrah and Yuki were stood in the doorway.

"Here we go." Shigure said happily and made his way over to the corner of the room, his hands fumbling over the wall quickly. He pressed something and a part of the pannelled wall fell away to reveal a wooden ladder.

Shigure turned back to the group. "It leads to the roofs - we can lose them easily up there and evade eyes at the same time."

Kyo groaned silently at the thought of climbing up _another _ladder whilst injured.

Shigure led the way and soon disappeared up the ladder - followed closely by Tohru and Hotrah. Yuki stared towards Kyo and indicated that he should go first.

Kyo snorted. "I'm not crippled."

"No," Yuki agreed. "But Tohru would go insane if something happened to you for real."

Kyo had to admit that he had a good point. He nodded appreciatively to the ex-rat, and quickly stepped forwards to limp up the ladder as fast as his working leg would allow. To his relief, the journey did not last very long - and Shigure had hauled him upwards and onto the copper tiles of the roofing, where at once Tohru enveloped him in a hug

Metallic scrapes and panted breath, told Kyo that Yuki had also managed to crawl onto the roof and Shigure was busy disconnecting the ladder from the rectangle entrance. From the floor below, Kyo could clearly hear the military thunder into the room that they had been in moments before.

Shigure signalled to everyone, that they should follow him, and he led the way across the roof of the Bar and onto the adjoining building. Thankfully, he'd chosen the route that did not involve any dangerous free running and leaping over giant holes. There was no way that he would be able to handle _that_. He glanced at Tohru jogging quickly beside him, and gently took her hand in his own. She looked up at him and smiled encouragingly, even though fear and shock, shone cleanly through her turquoise orbs. He ached to hold her in his arms again. But sure enough, they were pribably being followed closely already. They would have time eventually.

Despite the situation, it was the first time that Kyo had properly seen the city skyline at night. Sure enough, the stars that shone over the military campsite, had been pretty enough to watch. But the stars paired with the neon glow of the skyscrapers, wispy clouds and a full moon - was simply irresistable not to want to stop and take it all in. With a pang of loneliness, he thought of his rooftop at home and sleeping under the stars.

Shigure still led the small but strange procession whilst Yuki kept the rear and shot cautious looks behind him every few seconds. Somewhere along the way, Hotrah had knelt down and seized a spiked metal pole, and carried it along with her like an Amazon woman. Tohru had nothing to protect herself with, but she was small enough to hide in the small indents and alcoves of the roofs, if it came to a chase. Kyo himself, felt like a _huge_ liability - a feeling that he absolutely hated. He did not like the way that Shigure kept looking back to check on him, or how Hotrah moved closer everytime there was a suspicious noise, or how Yuki increased his speed when it looked as it Kyo may fall.

He wanted desperately to tell them all to fuck off and mind their own business. But he sighed with defeat and let it go. They _were _only trying to help after all.

The air became bitterly cold and Kyo could hardly feel his face. The warmest part of his body, was his hand that still clutched Tohru's. He could feel her shaking with cold, and regretted leaving his army flak jacket behind.

How long had they even been running now?

Shigure disappeared for a few seconds, and immediately reappeared. He said nothing to the rest of them, but indicated to a stairwell that led into a dark street, that they made use of. The street below was quiet and welcoming. There were no cries of 'pirates' or 'traitors' and no robots wandering around. It was deadly silent.

"There's a small outcropping here that leads to an abandoned farmhouse," Shigure spoke quietly, his warm breath clouding the air. "We are better off laying low for a little while there, until everything dies down."

"I doubt it will die down Shigure," Yuki panted. "A bunch of so called criminals running around their perfect city? They'll see it as a perfect opportunity to release the cyborgs and start slaughtering people!"

"It's a chance we need to take," Shigure tried to reason impatiently. "If we just run in there without a plan, then we'll be killed on sight."

"Maybe that's what we need? To storm their base and shake things up a bit." Hotrah shrugged and brandished her metal pole threateningly. Yuki stared at her for a few seconds and nodded.

"Actually, yes. I've worked there and I've seen how neatly they run their operations. If we stormed their main base, then we'd be going against their whole order of things and they wouldn't know what to do with themselves." Yuki fell silent and gently massaged his temples, thinking over the situation. Kyo stared between him and Shigure and couldn't help but agree with Yuki.

"Yuki's right," Kyo almost kicked himself for saying. "We'd work things out quicker this way and find the answer to getting back to our own world. Plus, I want to get revenge on these bastards." He tapped his bandaged leg. Beside him, Tohru jostled uncomfortably at the thought of a fight and yet more violence. Kyo felt a little bad for wanting to put her through that again. But he had no choice, it was the only sure way out.

"This is madness," Shigure sighed. "Do you realise how risky this is? Or how many things can go wrong? For one thing, where _is _their main base of operations and how do we take it down?"

Yuki tapped this chin thoughtfully. "The laboratory in which the Cyborgs were made," he said finally. "We will take the fight directly to them."

"_What?_" Tohru gasped.

"That's completely fucking insane," Hotrah nodded. A wide grin spread across her face. "I like it."

"Us against robots? I can't imagine that will go well." Kyo sighed.

"The answer is there," Yuki said confidentally, his eyes defiant. "I'm sure of it."

A cold and uncomfortable silence met his words. Kyo was sure that like him, everyone weighed up the risks in their heads and judged whether it was worth it or not. His fists clenched at the thought of those bastards still vigorously searching the city for them. He thought of the things he'd seen and heard in his time in the army and how much Tohru had been though. The fire in his gut raged again and his mind was made up.

"I'm in." He nodded.

"Me too." Tohru said quietly. Kyo looked at her and she squeezed his hand and gently touched his wound with a pale hand. She looked as if she were fighting to keep her worry at bay with the courage she had.

"I'm all for it." Hotrah nodded happily, her eyes danced with excitement.

Yuki breathed a sigh of relief and looked at his older cousin. "Shigure?"

The older man's face did not betray what he was thinking and it took him a little while to reply to Yuki. Finally, his expression turned into a defeated one and he begrudgingly nodded slowly.

"Yes, alright."

Yuki broke into a true rare smile and stared at each person of the group in turn. When his eyes met Kyo and Kyo stared back. A small knot of understanding passed between them and Kyo knew that he was no longer an enemy anymore.

"Thank you everyone," Yuki said humbly. "Let's go and finish this quickly." He spun on his heel and made his way back up to the stairwell once more and back to the rooftops. As they began to run back the way they came, Kyo could feel the excitement radiate from everyone along with an edge of fear. The negative side of him, couldn't help but feel that every step he took, ticked seconds away from death. They were undoubtedly way out of their league against metallic enemies and hundreds of men with guns. Hell, he didn't even know exactly _why _he trusted Yuki's judgement on the matter. If anything, the ex-rat could be leading them into a trap.

Kyo stopped and shook his head. No.. That was definetly not the case. Yuki was a bastard at times, but he would never betray Tohru of all people. Not ever.

But even if he didn't want to admit it, Shigure was right - what was going to be the plan? Would they show up, kick ass and then stand around and think of what to do next, whilst the Army flooded in and disposed of everyone?

He quickly dispelled the thought as soon as it had come and instead, concentrated on the dying night sky and the way the moon pushed through the wisps of cloud. For the very first ime in his life, he emptied his mind of any thought and emotion - just as Kazuma had told him to do once when he got too stressed. He thought of only the task ahead and silently prayed to whatever cyber God that listened.

_Please, please let everything work out and be okay._


	9. Lifeline

In all truth, Tohru had never given much thought on how she thought she would die.

Sure though, when he mother died - she had flickers of those morbid thoughts for a little while. But then she would always remember how her mother would scold her for thinking such things and hold her so tight, that Tohru would be able to smell her floral perfume clearly and feel safer. Death was just another thing, another experience that was just _there_. Tohru was too young to remember her father's death clearly and when her mother passed away - a huge emptiness filled the void and she learned to think of death as something that would creep up on everyone when they least suspected it.

But for someone to know when and where they were going to die? She could only imagine it as pure torture.

_Mother. I don't know if you've realised - but I'm stuck inside an insane video game with Kyo, Shigure and Yuki. Things have gotten pretty serious and I don't know if I'm going to die or not.. Or even if I CAN die in this world.. Everything's so messed up here._

"Tohru?"

For a split second of absentmindedness, her head snapped towards the person who'd said her name - expecting to be met with her mother's kind eyes and smile. But her heart sank immediately as soon as she realised that it was Kyo. Some kind of disappointment must have leaked onto her expression, because Kyo was staring at her weirdly with a slightly hurt expression.

"I'm fine," she mumbled. "Fine." God, she was so _exhausted. _Sure enough, she was grateful for a few hours of sleep at the Bar - but apart from that, she'd had little to no sleep during her unwelcome stay in the cyber world.

Plus, how was it that the air was so _cold _inside a video game? Her entire body felt rigid and frozen, whilst her face maintained an unpleasant warmth around her forehead and cheeks. she involuntarily groaned and quickly opted not to let Kyo know that it felt as if she was getting a cold. They'd only just been reunited once again, there would be no sense in worrying him unneccesarily over something so small. Besides, they had way more pressing matters at hand.

Yuki had taken point somewhere along the way and had ended up leading them to the rooftop situated next to the laboratory. He was deep in coversation about tactics with Hotrah and Shigure, whilst Tohru sat silently cross-legged on the rust coloured tiles and stared at the giant laboratory building.

From the exterior, Tohru had to admit that it didn't look all that scary - just a boring white washed building, with a blue neon sign on the side. Every now and then, workers would enter and exit the building in smart lab coats - even at such an extreme hour in the morning.

"What are you thinking, Tohru?" Kyo said softly beside her. He wrapped his arm around her waist and gently nudged her closer to his warm body.

"Nothing really," she hedged. "Just looking for a way that we can safely get inside." She could tell from the look on his face, that he was clearly unhappy with her response.

"Tohru, you don't need to think about tactics. Just be safe and leave it to us, please?" There was a slight begging tone to his voice. Tohru gave a small smile and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"But I want to help out everyone - I'm the only one sitting back and doing nothing here," she sighed. "I want to repay you all for your kindness.."

_And show you all, that I'm not spineless and can protect you this time. _She added silently and casted her mind back to her first experience in the virtual world, fighting _actual _pirates. Back then, she was driven by her willpower to survive and find Kyo, and she had somehow managed to overcome her fears and fight bravely alongside Hotrah.

"It's just too dangerous Tohru. I don't think I could handle losing you again." He said softly and fell silent once again. Tohru gently outstretched her hand and gently traced his cold fingertips. She knew all too well, the pain of seperation.

The sound of a hasty cough cut into their moment and they turned to see Shigure stare with amusement at them.

"Are you both ready?"

"Yeah," Kyo sighed. "Let's just get this over with." He rose to his feet and pulled Tohru up along with him, they joined the rest of the group.

"The plan," Yuki began. "The only safe route I see into the building, is through my office window - which was left open when I escaped and _hopefully_, should still be open now, if we're lucky. Once we get in, we must avoid security or we'll probably be shot on sight," he paused. "At least I dont think they would interpret our presence here."

"Any normal convicts or _pirates_, would wanna get out of the city as fast as they could. Most of their forces would be concentrated on all the entrances and exits." Hotrah said confidently. Her black eyes shone with courage.

"That's the idea anyway," Yuki continued. "I know the way roughly into the underground labs, judging on some of the hacked documents I saw. However when we're down there, it's anyone's guess really."

"It all depends on Lady Luck then." Shigure said quietly. Silence fell upon the small group, reflecting on ways that the night could possibly go. It was not long before Tohru completely blocked out the thought of death and loss from her fragile mind.- she didn't want to end up jinxing the plan or something. Although the lack of knowledge of inside the labs, wasn't _exactly _comforting.

_At least we are all together though. _She imagined that it would be a whole lot scarier if she was abandoned alone. _But yet more to lose.. _She couldn't stop herself from adding.

Yuki suggested then, that they should make a move. So he directed them to a fire escape on the side of the rooftop and took the lead. The ladder ended just before it hit the alley floor, Yuki and Shigure reached up to help Hotrah down after leaping themselves. Tohru flew through the air for only a few seconds before she landed neatly in Kyo's arms. Yuki turned and signalled to them that they shouldkeep silent. Not that Tohru had much she wanted to say anyway. She was way too worried that she'd end up crying out loud if she opened her mouth.

Yuki peered his head out of the darkened pathway and darted left the right, scanning the area for any signs of lab technicians or police. When he was satisfied enough, he shook his fingers and signalled them up to move up. Without even realising, they had formed a rough formation of Yuki, Shigure, Hotrah, Tohru and Kyo at the rear. If Tohru heard a strange noise or a strange chill down her spine, she would press herself closer to Kyo and strain her ears for any other signs.

What prevented her from thinking that she was going totally crazy, was the fact that Kyo also would cast looks behind the group every so often and check they were not being followed. She tried to shoot a reassuring look his way, but he was too wrapped up in whatever he was thinking, to notice.

Hotrah now walked side by side with Tohru and gently squeezed her shoulder. "You okay?" She mouthed. Tohru nodded mutely and flashed a quick smile - although judging by the look on the woman's face, it didn't look as if she bought the fake enthusiasm. Hotrah didnt push it though and instead, locked her eyes forwards. Tohru followed her gaze to see that they had arrived at a low brick wall, with grey tiles that overcasted a row of expensive looking windows. Yuki moved towards the only open pane and pressed his face through it. It was a few seconds before he scrambled effortlessly onto the sill and disappeared into the dark room behind it.

Shigure gestured for Hotrah to go next - a pained, uncertain look appeared on her face, but was gone as quickly as it had appeared and she too, climbed through the window. Tohru then found herself being prodded forward gently by Kyo. She swallowed the lump of fear in her throat and arranged what she hoped was a calm expression on her face, letting Kyo and Shigure lift her upwards, so that she could swing her legs over the sill and land neatly in the lab.

It took a few moments for her eyes to adjust propely to the gloom. Despite the open window, the air seemed awfully musty and heavy. She could barely make out a few benches and chairs and what resembled a computer in the corner. She groped around blindly, he hands falling on expensive scientific equipment. There were two seperate thuds from somewhere behind her - Kyo and Shigure had rejoined the group.

"No Shigure - leave the window open. We can use it as an escape route if we need to." Yuki whispered from somewhere to the left. Tohru could hear him, as he shuffled with ease around the room. There were a few small clicks and the sound of a chair being dragged out of the way and suddenly the room was dimly lit green - the computer whirred in the corner.

"That's better," Hotrah sighed. "My eyes don't do so well in the dark anyway.. Must've been all the experimental drugs I took in my younger days." She tossed her dark hair back and fell back into her memories. Tohru was strongly reminded of her blonde best friend back at home. Her heart panged with homesickness.

She was aware that Kyo had moved protectively to her side whilst Yuki tapped away quickly at the computer's keyboard. Shigure had already crossed the room and stuck his head out into the darkened hallway. The room was tense with unspoken anxiety and worry. Not once, did Kyo's hand leave Tohru's.

"Done," Yuki announced finally and rose from the computer chair. "The entrance to the labs is just down the hallway - I know the codes to the door - but keep alert," he looked specifically at Kyo and Shigure. "Think you can manage that?"

Kyo snorted. "I can handle that just fine. Are you _that _worried about me?"

"'Course," Yuki said drily. "I'm more worried about being caught. Speaking of which, I am counting on you to defend Tohru if it ends in a fight - and Shigure, Hotrah is _your _responsibility," he paused and tapped his chin thoughtfully. "That also means if we are confronted, we may have a better chance to split up and regroup later on."

"That may be best," agreed Shigure. "We'd also have a better chance of finding answers and covering more ground."

Tohru's worry sprouted at the conversation. Images of her friends - her Kyo, cornered by men with guns, flashed before her eyes and caused her heartbeat to spike. Everyone was disappearing around her was disappearing just as fast as they had found eachother!

The temporary safe feeling she'd held - now died and was replaced by a ball of fear. Kyo squeezed her hand gently and shot her a reassuring smile. But it was all wrong. It didn't reach his eyes.

They stepped out cautiously into the hallway and quickly followed Yuki along the perfectly polished flooring and white painted walls. Tohru could almost feel the walls press in on her - too close. Even the air, was thick with the scent of chemicals and cleaning products - so much so, that it choked her throat. Like the darkness itself, were strangling her with its long tendrils.

It was not long before a huge wrought iron door, came into view at the end of the corridor. The keypad situated beside it, glowed green and blue with a red light, blinking above the keys. Yuki impatiently stabbed a combination of numbers and breathed a visible sigh of relief, as the red bulb clicked loudly and faded to green. The metal door unhinged itself and swung forward a few inches until Yuki caught the handle and pulled it open. Tohru braced herself and prepared for hoardes of robots and guards to fly out at them, with guns and lasers. However, when her eyes fluttered open, the hallway beneath the door looked just as clean and quiet as the one they currently stood in. Shigure took the chance and took the lead through the newly opened door, pulling Hotrah along with him. A few more moments of walking, and they came to a fork.

"This has come a lot sooner than I expected," Shigure sighed. "Oh well. We'll take the left."

Hotrah narrowed her beautiful, big eyes. "Whatever. Keep your hands to yourself then, eh?"

"You wound me!" He mocked and placed his hand over his heart. Hotrah rolled her eyes and swung around to place her hands on Tohru's skinny shoulders. It was dark, but even Tohru could make out the determination in her friend's eyes.

"Look after yourself." The woman said quietly, removing her hands and stomping after Shigure along the left fork. Yuki turned to Kyo and awkwardly crossed his arms.

"Mind if I go forward?"

Kyo nodded slowly. "Sure. You'd better be careful though.. Damn rat." His face betrayed the hint of a smile. Yuki merely grinned back and replied; "Stupid cat." He ruffled Tohru's hair affectionately and walked forwards on down the hallway. Kyo tugged gently on Tohru's hand and pulled her down the right fork.

"Kyo?" She mumbled.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think they'll be okay?" Tohru whispered and clenched his hand tight with her pale fingers. She was well aware that she was probably shaking a little - but nothing mattered anymore, not really anyway. She felt Kyo press her against the wall and slowly place kisses on her head, her face, her neck. She could feel her worry etch away with every time his lips came into contact with her cold skin. He finished against her lips and pulled away, patiently studying her.

"They will be fine," he said quietly. "They can take care of themselves, and I can take care of _you_. There's nothing to worry about." He smiled crookedly. Tohru found herself smiling back before she could stop herself. Kyo had single handedly calmed her down and left her in a state of numb bliss. She trusted the safe look in his eyes without question.

"Sorry," she apologised sheepishly. "I just can't wait to go home."

"I'll tell you what. When we get home, we'll go out - you and me," he grinned. "You may as well invite Uotani and Hana. After all, you still need to tell them that we're together."

She smiled and tried to imagine what death threats her best friends would shoot at Kyo, if he should dare to hurt her. Her eyebrows rose. "'Even if they should try to scare you away?"

He snorted. "Bring it." Tohru threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. When she closed her eyes, it felt as if the scary overly-clean corridor had melted away into the familiar scene of their living room. She imagined cooking a large meal for everyone and sitting down to enjoy it.. Everyone laughing and having fun. Heck, maybe she would even invite her Grandfather over to join. It had been too long, since they'd last talked - and surely he'd love to spend time with one of the only family members he had left.

"Am I interrupting?" A voice cut through the darkness like a knife. There was a sudden flash of bright light, and they were pooled in darkness no more. Tohru squinted through the torchlight as hard as she could to make out three figures. The one who'd spoken, stood further forward than the other two and waved the torch around carelessly. The figure shone the torch upwards - the light marred his features and twisted his appearence like a demon. The man stood there and laughed. His throaty voice echoed around the halls like a hundred clowns were stood there. He seemed to stare past Tohru and fixate his eyes on Kyo, a strange expression on his face. Beside her, she felt Kyo himself - stiffen and a growl in his throat.

"Gene." He spat with more venom than he had ever shown Yuki. Tohru grabbed his arm fearfully as he began to shake with rage.

"Someone you know, Kyo?" She asked weakly, staring at the shadows on Gene's face.

"No." Said Kyo flatly. He took a step in front of Tohru and subtly shielded her from view. A shark-like smile stretched across Gene's face - only made more dramatic by the torchlight in his face.

"I'm _hurt _Kyo! We served in the same unit - shared _meals_. And yet here you are, denying my kindness and betraying the entire military. All for the likes of _that_," he jutted his thumb roughly towards Tohru. "I honestly don't know what to be more pissed about."

"My heart bleeds for you."

"I'm sure it does," Gene replied cooly and took a small step to the side, directing his attention towards Tohru. "As for you miss Honda_ - _I know a great _deal_ about you." He stopped, perhaps expecting some kind of response or sudden bout of hysteria from her. With Tohru doing nothing, but stare at him blankly, he gave a theatrical sigh and adopted a business-like expression.

"I'm afraid you will have to come with me, miss Honda - can I call you Tohru? Much less hassle you see.. We are all friends now after all."

Kyo growled and pushed a trembling Tohru farther behind him. She grasped onto the back of his shirt and tried to supress the rising horror.

"And yet, you still continue to defy me _boy_. Do you honestly think you can defeat me? Defeat everything my men and I stand for?" His eyes turned hard and he sent a flying fist into the wall beside him, sending chips of brick flying. Gene visibly shuddered and his chest heaved with deep breaths. He seemed to calm down enough to stare down Kyo once again. Kyo merely raised an eyebrow at the sudden act of violence and shook his head slowly.

"You still don't get it - do you Gene?" He said quietly. Your ambitions and your rules.. They're sick and twisted." Revulsion etched onto his face. Tohru's eyes moved fearfully from one face to the next in a vain attempt to suss out who would break first. Kyo _looked c_onfident, but she could feel the way he slowly swayed between defensive positions and how hot his hands had become - despite the freezing air.

_Oh God. Please let nothing happen to my Kyo. _She pleaded over and over again. Did cyber gods even exist?

"Cry somewhere else," Gene snapped. "Outsiders would never understand."

"Right sure," Kyo snorted. "I'm in no mood to hear your sob story now though.. So if we're done here.." He clutched Tohru's hand and made to turn down back the way they had come. In a flash, Gene's fingers snapped like a clap of thunder and his two guards rushed forward and grabbed each of Kyo's arms and prised him away. Acting on instinct, Tohru squealed and aimed a kick at one of the men's crotches. He sank to the floor - cursing loudly, while Kyo roared with laughter.

Gene stepped into the fray and yanked a clump of her hair, forcing her to look into his black, lifeless eyes.

"You will _not _do that again," he purred dangerously. "I'm not opposed to hitting girls." He locked gazes with Kyo and pressed his lips into Tohru's hair, inhaling her scent and sending an involuntary shiver down her spine. He and Kyo glowered continously until Tohru began to wriggle with pain. Gene glanced down at her - as if he'd only just remembered that she was even there. His expression smoothed out and he kicked her kneecaps, forcing her to move backwards.

"So sorry to cut this short," Gene smirked - not looking the slightest bit sorry. "But Tohru and I are very busy this evening, so please excuse us.." He nodded his head and the two guards began to loom in on Kyo again. Tohru yelled and screamed and kicked out viciously - but his arms were as hard as thick metal bars and he pressed down so hard on her chest, she wondered if her lungs were going to explode. He effortlessly dragged her down the hallway - away from Kyo's yells and his horrified expression.

She was being pulled into the darkness. _Alone._


	10. Ruthless

"Tohru?"

Kyo pulled himself out of the dregs of his dying dream and blinked away the drowsiness. Depression fell upon him heavily as soon as he realised that all he experience, was just a lovely dream. With each passing second, remnants of memory fell back into place, along with flashes of Tohru's tortured expression - her eyes terrified and pleading..

His head exploded in such a pain - it could only have meant that he earned a big bruise there. Red hot anger licked at his veins. He clenched his fists and scowled into the dark shadows of the room. He didnt even _care _where the fuck he was. After all, it wasn't exactly the _first _time, he'd been plunged into a totally unknown place.

If anything, the room looked a lot like Yuki's office, but smaller and lacked the crisp evening air from an open window. For once, it was insanely hot. Someone had removed his shirt thankfully - revealing the muscles he'd gotten from training with Kazuma - on them, were hints of yellowing new bruises and cuts.

It looked as if someone had lost patience with him, whilst he was out.

He shifted his weight a little - his injured leg throbbed with strain. Thick ropes cut into his ankles and wrists as he moved.

_So that's how they're playing it, huh? _ The idea almost made him laugh out loud. Gene - the big bad villain, had managed to steal his girlfriend and have him tied to a chair. The idea would only have been made better, if there was a huge train hurtling towards him.. He made a mental note to congratulate him later.

Kyo clicked his tongue irritably as the meeting with Gene, played through his mind. He could easily pick out that man's smirk in an entire crowd. Just thinking about it, made his knuckles clench and turn white.

Reluctantly, he pushed his anger aside for one second and focused his mind on Tohru. Where had Gene taken her and for what purpose? Nothing made sense. None of the pieces fit together. He almost wished that Yuki was on hand to help solve it.

It didn't matter anyway. Not matter what conclusion he could manage to come up with, he couldn't do much while tied to a chair.

Kyo shifted his weight again and rubbed his robe-bound wrists on whatever surface was behind him He managed to continue the friction whilst slipping the rope down onto his hands a little. It was long work and his arms were tired, but the sweat on his hands caused the rope to allow itself to be slipped easily off his wrists altogether.

He pulled up his hands and moaned in relief, nursing the deep red grooves in his wrists. It didn't take long before he tore the rope from his ankles and limped out the door.

The hallway was cold and uninviting. A few lights adorned the walls, leaving a few dark spots along the path. An obnoxious looking sign, told Kyo that he was roughly a floor below from where Tohru was taken from him. He groaned. Tha woould make tracking her down a lot more difficult.

Not to mention that he was also wandering around with no shirt..

He set off at a jog toward the nearest flight of stairs with his ears listening hard for any sound of danger. It was a long shot, but he figured that Gene would not want to draw things out, and drag Tohru to one of the closest rooms to where she disappeared - probably also providing Gene with a quick escape route, plus it was the only idea tha Kyo really _had_. So it would have to do.

He found the stairs with ease and jumped over the banister, landing expertly on the balls of his feet on the floor below. He crouched in a dark spot and paused, there did not seem to be any footsteps running towards him, niether someone barking orders or Tohru screaming.

Everything seemed as dead as the silence, the freakishly clean wall and floor glistened in the darkness. Down the passage, it looked as if someone hadn't bothered to turn the lights on again. As much as he squinted, he couldn't determine any hidden dangers.

Once again, he set off at a fast walk this time. He slipped off his shoes and hid them in the darkness - the heavy, loud boots were _not _doing him any favours.

It occured to him as he continued into the darkness, that there was an eerie green light at the end of every corridor he followed. After a little while, he began to chase it out of mere whim. Using the light, he figured that he was roughly on the north side of the building and had covered at least all of the west side. He could feel his bandaged leg twitch with pain every minute, so he didn't have much choice but to slow to a mere crawl. Not to mention that with every new hallway he entered, the air had steadily grown colder and caused goosebumps to rise on his bare chest. Even the floor under his soles, felt like pure ice. He continued to pad numbly along the path, until a flurry of hushed whispering stopped him in his tracks.

Instinctively, he crouched and pressed his body against the cool wall, as two figures shuffled towards him.

"If I knew you were _this_ bad at directions - I would have gone by myself!" Someone grumbled. The second figure laughed airily, not at all bothered at the insult. Kyo's eyebrows rose and he side stepped into their path.

"This is an interesting date fir you two.."

"Shush you," Hotrah snapped and jabbed a thumb in Shigure's direction. "At what point were you and Yuki going to mention, that your cousin here, is completely useless?"

"Ouch," Shigure chuckled. "And I thought you _enjoyed _my gentlemanly company!"

"Gentlemanly?" Hotrah hissed. "You all but asked me to marry you!"

Shigure shrugged, nonplussed. "It's not very often I encounter a fiesty woman," he turned and eyed Kyo. "Speaking of which, where's Tohru?"

Kyo sucked in oxygen and didn't answer straight away. He didn't dare to meet Hotrah's accusing stare. He had a feeling that she may end up wringing his neck or something crazy.

"Gone," he hissed. "Gene - a comrade of mine back in the military - ambushed us and kidnapped her." God, did anyone else hear the pounding of his heart? As the situation dawned on Shigure and Hotrah, he could almost taste the tension and anxiety that hung around them, on the tip of his tongue. Hotrah's eyes ignited a black fire. Both she and Shigure had the same tortured expression that Kyo held a little while ago.

"And you just.. Let him take her... Just like that?" Hotrah whispered, hysteria leaking into her voice and her face paling. She took a violent step towards Kyo. Shigure's arm shot outwards and stopped her in her tracks.

"I did not _let them take her_," Kyo growled. "He got his thugs on me, while Gene got his dirty hands on Tohru and disappeared with her!" His fists involuntarily clenched and anger licked at his spine. Hotrah matched the hostility and threatened to take another step until Shigure tightened his grip on the woman.

"Hotrah," he cautioned. "I'm sure that Kyo tried his best. He wouldn't let Tohru go without a fight." His voice subtly turned authorative and Hotrah was left with no choice, but to settle for a disgusted expression. Kyo ignored her and focused on his cousin.

"I know she's definetly still in the building and probably on this floor. The problem is tracking her down. I've looked into every room I've passed but.." He sighed. "No luck yet."

Shigure studied him seriously for a few moments, before walking towards him and clapping him on the shoulder. "We will find her and go home, alright Kyo? She'll be okay."

"I know. I just didn't like the way Gene was looking at her.." Kyo said darkly. He frowned at the floor, Tohru's face flooded his memory. He heard Shigure's whisper something unintelligable to Hotrah and she stopped glaring at Kyo. She stomped down the hallway without another word. Shigure prodded Kyo to follow suit.

They walked in silence for a while, plans formed in Kyo's mind for every situation they could face. Every so often, he'd still peer into the windows and doors of the side rooms they passed. Anxiety ghosted his every footstep along with Tohru's voice in his head. Gah. He could he lose her _again?_

He only hoped that she was resisting Gene as much as she could. Nethertheless, they must be running low on time. Gene was playing them all like puppets and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Kyo would make him pay.

"I'm sorry about Hotrah," Shigure said quietly. "That girl loves Tohru like her own sister. You could say that she saved her, like she saved us." A small smile played on his lips. Kyo recalled his life as a cat and his intense relief and joy at escaping what should have been his fate. Not even Shigure could have known his pain of being shunned from the zodiac for so long. But yet one girl managed to somehow tame him and give him something to life for.

"I suppose I can't be angry at her for _that_." Kyo said grudgingly.

Shigure nodded in agreement. "I had a long talk with her earlier. She is very similar to you in many ways. Easy to anger.. Grew up alone.. She even has a family somewhere."

"You have a lot of interest in her."

He shrugged. "It's rare that I get to talk to interesting people." A teasing smile appeared on his face. Kyo inwardly rolled his eyes and made mental note to warn Hotrah about his cousin later.

Up ahead, Hotrah had stopped moving and was peering around the corner into the path ahead. Kyo saw that the strange, eerie glow was stronger now and illuminated them. As they reached Hotrah, she pressed her finger to her lips and pointed around the corner. Kyo stepped forwards to take her place and peered around the edge.

Ahead, were two armed guards situated either side of a huge mental doorway. The eerie glow was a lot stronger and caused the walls and the floor to glow with a beautiful aura. Kyo's gaze fell upon the large machine guns they grasped. One glimpse of him, and he would be on the ground, riddled with holes. He slowly retreated back and grimly faced the others. He saw the same worry and caution in their eyes that was mirrored in his own.

"We outnumber them. But they are more than likely to win," Hotrah spat in disgust. "Stupid odds."

"Kyo's a black belt," Shigure half smiled. "Go out there and work your moves on them."

Kyo resisted the urge to punch his cousin in the face. "Last time I checked, martial arts didn't involved guns." Nor did he feel like testing the theory out. This obviously wasn't the training ring anymore.

_Ugh. Do we even have the time to be arguing about this? There's no telling what that bastard is doing with Tohru right now! _The urgency of his thought, sent a fresh new wave of anxiety flowing through his body. If she even knew what he was considering, she'd kill him herself for coming so close to danger. But to be honest, his mind was already long ago made up, the moment Tohru agreed to being in a relationship with him. She would just have to yell at him later for his stupid, reckless ideas.

Before either Shigure or Hotrah could stop him, he casually stepped into plain view, shoved his hands in his pockets and sauntered forwards.

It was quite clear from their expressions, the two armed guards did not know what to make of the shirtless, shoeless teenager, walking towards them calmly. As he neared, they rose their guns and took a defensive stance.

Kyo held up his hands. "Hey, I don't want any trouble here."

"Then state your name and business here. It better be good too - this is a highly restricted area." The guard on the left lowered his gun slightly, obviously not thinking Kyo as much competition. The orange haired boy fought ot mantain his stoic expression.

"I know that already," he shrugged. "You really think I'd be down here otherwise? The general would go crazy." He faked a pained expression and pretended to sigh. The guard on the right, raked his eyes over Kyo's form and narrowed them a little.

"Name and rank." He repeated slowly.

"Private second class. Julius Ragna. Cell 7." Kyo lied automatically. He hoped that his face was still blank. The guard still looked suspicious, but he seemed to relax a little. His comrade dug out a carton of cigarettes and popped one in his mouth and lit it. A small cloud of smoke swirled around slowly in the air, before diappearing within the air filter in the ceiling.

"So Julius," one of the guards said conversationally. "What brings you here, eh? Cells 1-10 usually don't stray below ground level. They don't like the danger." His face darkened slightly and there was a slight hostility to his words, that made Kyo strangely uncomfortable. He forced himself to take a step forward.

"Major Gene," he tried not to hiss the man's name. "Wants me to explore new lines of work within the military. He's thinking of transferring me down here due to my scientific abilities. You could say I came for the tour." He hoped that Shigure and Hotrah wouldn't try and launch an escape for him. He could feel their tension from somewhere behind.

The guards looked satisfied with his answer - much to his relief. One pointed at his naked torso and feet and asked him where the rest of his uniform had gone.

"Training excercises upstairs. It got a little warm." Man, it was getting so easy for him to lie.

"Yes well. In the future, you will need to carry your ID badge around everywhere with you. The Major has been a little panicky of late.."

This caught kyo's attention. "Oh really?"

The guard suddenly coughed and looked very uncomfortable. He shared a quick glance with his comrade and muttered something under his breath.

"Get going Private," the second guard barked. "Before the Major kicks our asses for letting you in without the proper identification." Obviously he and his partner had been caught in Gene's wrath before.

Kyo nodded once and quickly bent down to arrange the hem of his combat trousers. He cocked his head and mouthed; "I'll go find Tohru." Into the darkness. Whether they understod him or not, Kyo couldn't tell. He quickly moved through the guarded passage and let the huge double doors, swing shut behind him.

The underground labs were a lot more beautiful than the dull, grey rooms upstairs.

For one thing, the hallway itself absolutely shone with undiluted colour. It glistened from the marble polished floors, up to the white tiled walls and mirrored ceiling. Kyo could hardly distinguish the dirty, orange haired man that glared back at him. For the first time in weeks, he could see that his hair had grown down a little to his shoulders and his crimson orbs were wide with caution, curiosity and exhaustion.

Just managing to tear his eyes away from the colourful reflection, he noticed that the hallway only consisted of just one glass door at the end of the route. To whatever was inside though, he couldn't tell. The glass was fogged up with tones of green and blue - spotlights glistened behind it.

Kyo padded past the trolleys of empty beakers and bottled chemicals. As he got closer, a sign on the door told him that it was a highly restricted area - not that he cared anyway.

Swallowing his anxiety, he seized the silver handle and burst through the door. He prepared himself to have to handle a group of panicked scientists and a group of guards running at him. Instead, he was met by another colour filled room. No scientists. No guards.

Hoardes of expensive scientific equipment littered the room. In the center, a huge grey desk sat - covered in hundreds and hundreds of unsorted papers and documents. Kyo edged closer and yanked one up - it was covered in complicated equations and phrases that only _Yuki _could understand.

He moved away from the table and glided past racks of dangerous looking chemicals and beakers - each held their own specific glow.

Now Kyo wasn't a scientist and he slept through most of high school science, but he knew that something didn't feel entirely right, about the strange rainbow laboratory. For one thing, he was pretty sure that the chemicals and jars were _not _supposed to glow. If not for the range of different shades and tones, he would have seriously believed that the room was once dipped in radiation and nuclear waste. Also, where were all of the staff and scientists? He wasn't too sure of the time, but surely people should be working?

He moved past the expensive looking machinery and gently thrummed his fingers across the surfaces. Very few had dust and looked new, which indicated that they had been used recently. He paused at a glass desk with a white laptop sat on it, and quickly moved on - they wouldn't be any point in trying to hack it.

He reached a half - concealed doorway, covered in strips of plastic sheets. He pushed through into another room that held yet more equipment. He girtted his teeth together, annoyiance etched in his every step along with his slipping patience. Was he even _close _to finding her?

Scanning the room, he found his answer.

Partially hidden in the corner of the room, Tohru lay still on a metal gurney, unmoving.

Kyo's legs marched him to the girl, without him even registering what was happening.

Her pale skin stood contrast to the dark surroundings and shone with a translucent glow. There seemed to be a frozen distressed expression on her face - as if she were having a bad dream. Purple shadows sat under her eyes and her lips were totally pale. Kyo's heart pounded loudly, as he struggled to find a pulse on her skinny wrist.

_God no. Please no. _He wanted to shout. Scream Cry.

Why wasn't she waking up and assuring him that she was perfectly fine and flashing her best goofy smile?

His heart wrenched his absolute agony - his eyes watered a little. His hands shook and scrambled onto the sides of her face and gently pushed the hair from her face. Her skin was icy. Lifeless.

"No!" He hissed. "No. no. no. Tohru? I need you to wake up. If you can hear me, tell me you're okay, please?" His voice turned to pleading. He held his raspy breath and waited, but Tohru stayed unmoving - not even a flinch.

He pulled his hands away and closed his eyes. How could he even stand to look at her - knowing that he'd _failed a_nd she was..

Tears clung to his eyelashes and spilled down his cheeks. He was faintly aware of the anger at the pit of his stomach - but honestly, what did it matter now? His life basically extinguished the moment Tohru's eyes had closed. The only girl he had ever...

Depression made him sink to his knees beside the gurney and supress the urge to vomit violently.

"Tohru.. Tohru.. Tohru.." It was the only word that couldescape his lips. Possibly every memory they had ever shared, rang clearly through each mind - hot pain drowned him in numbness. Darkness swirled around his eyes like a veil and clouded his vision. Or was it his knees?

There were faint sounds of tapping somewhere behind him. Kuo just barely had enough resolve left to seek out the cause of the sound. His eyes widened and his lips curled into a snarl.

Gene leaned casually against a machine and gently tapped his fingers over the keys - absentmindedly making patterns. He surveyed Kyo with an amused look, but said nothing. It took almost all of Kyo's willpower ot stop himself from tearing the man's head off his shoulders. Instead, he rose to his feet and took a defensive position in front of Tohru's still frame.

Gene's eyebrows rose. "You would still protect a _dead_ girl?" He looked as if he enjoyed Kyo's visible wince at 'dead'.

"I'll always protect her."

"That body is nothing but a shell. A hollow prison with nothing to protect within it now," Gene tsk-ed and shook his head. "'Such a shame really. She was such a pretty little thing, though a bit timid for my liking.."

Kyo listened barely, just managing to control his shuddering spine. He gripped the sides of the gurney for support and glared back at the man stood smirking across from him. He estimated only_ three _big strides it would take, before he could get over there and beat the _shit _out of him. Gene must have noticed the murderous look flash across his face, because in the next moment - he was holding up his hands.

"Peace," he cautioned. "It was all for the greater good after all.. Because dear little Tohru had to die, ensured the safety of the citizens of the city here. Now none of this would have happened, if she didn't chose to hang out with her pirate friend and get herself involved," a sympathetic look crossed his face. "Now, I have to go and waste my time to chase the other one down, _plus _deal with the rest of you!" He said exasperately and flicked the hair from his face.

And that was it. Before Kyo could think, he was across the room and holding Gene's fragile neck in his big hands. One tiny snap was all it needed..

Gene barely looked bothered that he was one step away from death, he shot Kyo a pitied look.

_Come on - what am I doing? I could end him right now. I could teach that bastard not to play with other people's lives! _Kyo screamed inwardly. He was so _close _to paying that sick bastard back for everything he had done. So why was it so difficult to break his neck and just walk away? Well he already knew the answer to that. He was no killer. Tohru would not have wanted it to end with him as a murderer.

During his silent battle, Gene had obviously gotten fed up and wiggled out of Kyo's grasp and rubbed the red marks that adorned his neck.

"At least she went painlessly," Gene reasoned, crossing the room and inspecting a huge metal chamber next to Tohru. Through the window, there was another eerie glow and a vapor-like substance within.

"Painlessly." Kyo repeated, forgetting the meaning of the word comparing to the emptiness he felt. It was just a word that related only to the absence of physical pain. Kyo could only imagine how much _pain _Tohru endured mentally and emotionally, being scared and lost and seperated from him. Not knowing what was going to happen to her or the family she'd grown to love and think of as her own.

Gene tapped his chin thoughtfully as he continued to mess with the chamber. "Come to mention it - she was a lot more cooperative than the others. Once I told her that'd I'd hurt you if she didn't comply, she even lay down all by herself!"

"Manipulative bastard."

Gene shrugged. "It's how you get yourself noticed in this business. I've tried countless techniques and ideas to get myself noticed by the Board of Science and the government - and up until now, all have failed. But that's changed now," he tapped on a keypad on the chamber's door. "The government has _finally _paid me back for all my hours of research and hard work!" He cocked his head and faced Kyo. "I also could not have done it without little Tohru's help."

"What do you mean?" Kyo growled.

Gene said nothing, but reach behind him and fumbled around with something. He stepped out of the way and the chamber doors slid open and and vapour poured out. Kyo coughed the vapour from his throat and stared in a mixture of curiosity and horror. The smoke cleared away and someone stepped out of the chamber and stared at him.

But something was very off. For one thing - the figure was definetly not human - mad obvious by its piercing yellow eyes and cold expression. He found himself taking an involuntary step back and strapped for air.

"What has this got to do with Tohru?"

"Prototype 117," Gene said calmly. "Functions only by organic sources. I transferred her life energy to my creation here, and thus gave it life." The way he gazed at the cyborg was sickening - like a father obsessed with his child.

Kyo gazed at the cyborg again. It stood rigid and made no indication that it had even registered others in the room. It's metallic skin was rather flawless- with only a heavy, black cloak draped modestly around its form. Kyo choked the rising bile back down his throat. Tohru.. Had died for _this? _For such an abomination? Because of some crazy guy and tin can fantasy, he had lost the only person that meant more than life itself to him.

God, he wanted to laugh at the absurdity.

Words were way beyond him now.

He grappled behind him behind him for something - anything, that could double as a weapon. His hands fell upon a bronze pole, that stood verticle. He seized it up and gripped it tightly, knuckles turning white.

Gene shrugged. "I hoped it wouldn't come to violence and end so.. Messy," he turned to the cyborg. "Kill him and show him just exactly how much dear Tohru has helped _us_."

Before Kyo even had a chance to _blink _- Gene took a seat and watched as Prototype 117 nodded mutely and shot forwards at lightning speed.

He flipped the pole outwards in a horizontal slash, but the cyborg ducked and slid its legs straight under his, and sent him crashing to the floor. The gunshot wound in his leg, throbbed and split slightly. Dazed, he kicked out at the cyborg's rock hard chest and spun on his heels, kicking out again. It reeled backwards at the impact but appeared totally unharmed.

Kyo dared to inwardly smirk a little as Kazuma's training flooded back to him. He felt good, powerful at not having to hold back on his opponent. He wanted _revenge_.

First he would kick the robot's ass - then shortly followed by Gene's. Then he would find someway to restore Tohru's stolen life energy to her. The plan was set. The cyborg was fast and overly responsive - but he was stronger and _real_.

Once he landed a punch, he just couldn't stop and repeatedly pounded the cyborgs body, over and over again. Through the air that whirred through his ears, he could hear Gene's distinctive chuckle from the edge of the room.

Kyo quickly took his eyes off the target for a quick second, in order to tell the man to shut the hell up. In that moment, a robotic fist collided with his abdomen with such a force, that it knocked the wind from him. He sailed peacefully for a second and smashed into a glass shelf with a sickening crunch.

For a second, he was blurry eyed and deaf - but yet still could make out Tohru's form across from him.

_Shit. I'm sorry Tohru. I may not be able to avenge you. _He coughed - blood splattered beside his glass-ridden hands. Everywhere screamed out in pain like spikes piercing his skin. Above, the cyborg closed in with cold, blank eyes.

There were muffled yells and something whisked across the room and knocked the cyborg to its hands. Kyo took the opportunity to smash a glass beaker over its head and scramble to his feet - blood dripped down his arms and legs, spotting the linoleum.

There was a flurry of footsteps and Shigure was at his side, supporting him. Another sharp movement, and Hotrah was at his other side.

"Old man," he coughed. "Run. It's stronger than it looks." He indicated towards the cyborg clambering upwards. He caught sight of Gene's furious expression and grinned.

Shigure followed his gaze. "So _this _must be the infamous Gene?"

Gene himself, rose from his chair and pasted a fake smile on his face and ordered Prototype-117 to his side.

"Friends of Kyo's?" Gene looked delighted. "Now it's a big reunion party! It's only too bad the guest of honour couldn't stay long enough to join.." He deliberately stepped sideways to reveal Tohru's body to them. Kyo looked the other way and winced at the utter silence, shame and regret on his expression.

"Tohru..?" Hotrah whispered, her voice was laced with disbelief and confusion. Kyo could feel her shooting him questioning looks.

"What's going on here?" Demanded Shigure. He placed a hand on his cousins shoulder and forced him to look at him.

Kyo stared at his bare feet. "Gene." He said by way of explaination, but Shigure prompted him for more. "Gene.. Stole Tohru's life away from her, to power that thing." He indicated towards the robot disgusted.

Shigure nodded and failed to hide his apalled expression. He must have noticed the torture in Kyo's voice, because he shared an awakward, sympathetic half hug. Hotrah clenched her fists and began to scream obscenities and threats at the top of her voice. Shigure had to break away and hold her back by the waist.

"Hotrah!" He commanded. "Don't.. He's not worth it!"

"_Not worth it? _Are you _blind_ Shigure? He fucking killed Tohru and he's stood there - _daring _to smile at me!" She turned hysterical. "Kyo! How can you just stand there and do _nothing?_" She screamed angrily and foughtto wriggle out of Shigure's iron grip.

Kyo pushed aside his anger with great difficulty. "Do you really think I'll let that bastard go free? That I would just fucking _forgive _him?"

"Of course not," Shigure reasoned, a little breathless. "Tohru wouldn't have wanted you to die needlessly. _Never. Calm down Hotrah!_"

_Doesn't matter either way. _Kyo nodded. _I'm gonna join her no matter the outcome of what happens here today._

Gene - who had patiently let Hotrah continuously scream insults at him - stepped forwards and outstretched his arms in welcome. The cyborg hovered protectively at his side.

"Hotrah," Gene greeted like an old friend. "I can't tell you how good it is to see you again!"

"Liar!" Snarled Hotrah. "You would love to see me _dead_!"

"Well yes. But I'm sure if you were not such a filthy pirate - we would be good friends." He smiled and addressed Shigure. "Judging on how similar you look.. You must be Kyo's father?"

"Cousin," Shigure corrected. "You don't need to introduce yourself, I already know all about you." He gave a pained smile and Gene laughed airily.

"Good, that cancels out all small conversation," he smiled widely. "Now we're all properly introduced and friendly."

"Is this guy for _real?_" Hotrah screeched. "Or am I missing a really bad joke here?"

"He's real." Kyo replied flatly.

"I'm terribly sorry," Shigure said loudly. "But this is by no means a friendly meeting. We will be avenging Tohru and then leaving with her." His voice turned hard. "I'm afraid we won't take no for an answer." Kyo noticed that his cousin had taken a slight defensive position. Hotrah's lip curled back intro a snarl.

The smile fell off Gene's face. "Is that so?" He replied coldly. "And what kind of official would I be, if I let three more criminals just walk out?" He flapped his hands towards them. "117, destroy them all."

No sooner than the words left this mouth, Shigure seized Kyo by the arm and thrust him behind the cover of a workbench, as huge scraps of metal flew over them.

"Kyo," Shigure hissed urgently. "You focus on Gene and I will distract that robot as much as I can-.." He turned to check that the woman was safe and then continued. "I don't know how long we can hold it off - but take Gene down as soon as you can, okay?" He stopped and stared Kyo down, probing the dark corners of his mind. "I know it sounds insane, but let's not give up on Tohru yet."

Kyo desperately wanted to ask more and cling to what little hope that Shigure provided. But the intense way his cousin continuously stared at him, told him he shouldn't. He sighed and muttered a quick thanks.

The room shook heavily as the cyborg effortlessly grabbed a table and aimed it at Hotrah. She just barely managed to roll out of the way in time, as it smashed into tiny, wooden splinters.

"Is that all you got?" She taunted and danced out of the way, as something else was launched at her. "I thought robots were meant to be like, super intelligent?"

The cyborg shot past Kyo and tried to snap her spine clean in two. But she was fast and agile and leaped away laughing. Shigure seized a couple of metal stools and smashed them around the cyborg's head. He glanced back at Kyo and urgently yellled; "Go!"

He didn't need to be told twice.

Locating Gene was fairly easy - he was the guy sneaking out of the door on the far wall. As if he could feel murderous eyes on his back, he glanced back at Kyo and bolted ou of the room. Kyo tore after him without a seconds thought, as the metallic sounds of the battle behind him, faded out.


	11. Forever Strong

The hunter had now become the hunted, and he was in no mood to play games. Gene was fast, but clumsy and collided into doors and struggled to pull them open. The chase led them to a full glass corridor - lit up by the waning moon overhead. Lights and shadows danced together and whistled by. Kyo briefly wondered if Tohru was watching.. Wherever she was.

Gene risked a quicky glance behind his shoulder, and ended up tumbling across the ceramic tiles. Kyo seized the man's head and smashed it into the glass walls with a deafening echo. Gene moaned and clutched his head, blood trickled between his fingers. He gazed upon Kyo sihilouetted by the moonlight and chuckled softly.

"Killing me won't bring her back now."

"I know," Kyo swallowed. "But it would sure as hell, make me feel better."

"Revenge huh? Good lad." Gene coughed and red dripped from his lips. "Even so, I know you aren't a killer - it's so obvious in your eyes."

Kyo grabbed the man's collar and shoved him up against the cracked glass. "I could be." He threatened. How could a murderer even guess at what he was capable of? He was shaking uncontrollably and so _close _to killing the bastard once and for all.

_Tohru.. _He missed her already.. So much.

"No," continued Gene smugly. "You'll damage me, but you won't take my life Sohma. Because you're weak."

"You aren't exactly in any position to throw insults."

"And _you _value human lives too much. Don't you see Kyo? We're just pawns and characters for something much more bigger - something we cannot understand! If you were to kill me tonight, someone else would only replace my role," he wiped the smile off his face. "What I wanted to achieve, was to create our _own _paths and pushthe boundaries of normality and tap true human potential."

Kyo growled. "So instead, you thought that you'd _screw _with Tohru and the citizens, in order to _test _what you are capable of? So you made them your _pawns_?"

Gene knowingly sighed. "Nothing can be achieved without sacrifice."

Kyo swallowed the bile in his throat and pushed the blood covered man, awayfrom him in disgust. Honestly, he was at a loss for what to do next. He paced up and down the shattered glass corridor, whilst Gene silently watched.

It was slowly beginning to hit daylight as the moon sank beyond the urban horizon, and the sky turned pink. Kyo could feel tears cling to his lashes of his dry eyes. Hewas so tired and drained, he could feel fainting was not far off. Eventually, he turned slowly and met Gene's gaze.

"I'm not going to kill you today.. For one thing, Tohru would never forgive me. But I suggest that you change yourself and stop being such a fucking asshole.. But don't get me wrong, I don't give a shit what you become or what happens to you," he threw Gene a glare. "But get over yourself and your issues, before you really do get killed." Kyo wanted to get out of there and sprint as hard as he could to _anywhere_. There was a voice in his head screaming at him to turn back and slit the man's throat. Nethertheless, it was easy to ignore, as a wave of bittersweet depression flooded him, the entire walk back through the glass corridor and towards the secluded labs.

He figured that he would say a quick goodbye to Shigure and Hotrah and then take Tohru away from the city.

He rounded the last hallway and shoved open the lab door. Inside, Prototype 117 lay motionless on the crackled tiles, a long metallic pole through its chest. Shigure wiped his brow and greeted his cousin.

"I see you took care of it then?" Kyo snorted.

Hotrah shrugged. "The thing was wired up expertly, but we managed to find it's central data core and destroy it." She kicked the pole in triumph.

Another figure in the room stepped forwards into the lights - his silver hair glistened. Yuki regarded Kyo with a careful stare.

"What?" Kyo snapped.

Yuki shook his head. "I tried running around this place to try and find more clues on how to beat the cyborg and Gene," he glanced at the dead robot. "I already got here too late though." His violet eyes fell upon Tohru's still body. Kyo forced himself not to follow his gaze. He shrugged and glared at the marble floor.

"Yeah. I also got here too late." He whispered mournfully. Not wanting to look pitiful, he crossed the room to the gurney and unstrapped Tohru. He swung her up in his arms, trying to ignore her ice cold skin against his bare chest. He bit down on his lip and supressed the urge to shake her violently awake. God - she looked so troubled and alone. Not to mention, he could feel all of his courage and his modesty tearing themselves into pieces. Dry sobs rose from his chest like hungry animals. God only knew, what he looked like to the others.

"Dammit Shigure!" He exploded. "When will this damn game _end?_"

Shigure sighed and lowered his head, saying nothing. Yuki was the one who stepped forwards.

"Something's wrong. The final battle is done and over with.. But we aren't going home."

"Damn straight something's wrong.. Tohru's dead!" Kyo continued to yell. He was faintly aware that the others had taken a curious step backwards. Only Hotrah regained her position, a troubled expression on her face.

"Does that mean we're stuck here, Yuki? Stuck in this fucking hellhole? That's _bullshit_!" Kyo growled.

"Kyo, shut up for a sec, will you?" Hotrah snapped and massaged her temples with two fingers as if she had a huge headache.

"The _hell _did you just say to me?"

"I said _shush!_ I'm trying to work out something here, and all your yelling is _only _making it harder!" She stood her ground and met Kyo's irritating glare with her own. He made an angry sound and mumbled something under his breath, but kept quiet. He watched Hotrah toss mounds of papers and expensive medical equipment off a nearby desk.

"Put Tohru on here." She commanded quietly. Even though he disliked it, he chose to lower Tohru gently onto the desk and hover protectively near her head. Hotrah moved to the side and placed her palms on Tohru's torso, thinking silently.

"What are you doing?" Yuki enquired. Kyo noted that his cousin hadn't dared look at Tohru properly yet. Could he really blame him? It had already wrenched his own heart out.

"Just a theory I have," Hotrah mumbled. "If I'm right, then.." She trailed off and focused, not at all aware of the tension in the room.

"She.." Kyo prompted.

Hotrah frowned, a wrinkle appeared on her tanned forehead. "I don't know. She mentioned something to me a while back, after we'd first met. I never gave it a second thought until now.."

"What was it?"

She paused. "Tohru Honda - Hotrah Nuon. She realised that our names are exact anagrams of each other, down to the last letter. She figured that we had to be connected somehow." Hotrah looked down as if she was incredibly saddened by the memory. Kyo and Yuki exchanged glances - hope mirrored in both. Shigure moved to Hotrah's side and gently placed a hand on her shoulder, to which she shot him a smile.

"Anyway," she continued. "As you said before, Kyo, something is off and the situation doesn't feel right - plus you guys haven't been transported home yet. So I have an idea."

Kyo nodded. "And that is?" There was an unmistakable note of excitement in his voice.

Hotrah nibbled at her lip in thought. "Tohru isn't meant to be dead - it obviously wasn't her time." Her voice cracked, "I think I know of a way to bring her back though."

There was a brief moment of silence as everyone digested her words. The room exploded in questions and dull hope. Hotrah shrank back and covered her ears at the mass noise.

"Ouch." She complained.

Kyo touched Tohru's forehead and gingerly brushed his fingers through her silky hair. "So we can bring her back?" He said softly. Hotrah nodded mutely.

"Hang on," Shigure spoke up. "Something like this, must require some kind of sacrifice or something of equal value."

"Yeah you're right," Hotrah nodded again. "Tohru's life energy was stolen away - so she's technically dead right now. But if she somehow recieved someone else's life energy - then she'd be good as new. Since Tohru twigged that she and I have a connection, well... I'm assuming that sacrifice has to be _me_." She had a sheepish smile.

"No!" Shigure exploded. "There has to be another way! Perhaps if we somehow got the energy back from the cyborg.."

"Already gone," she cut him off. "This is probably the last option we have.. Tohru has."

"What if I sacrificed myself for her?" Kyo said quietly.

"Because she wouldn't be able to live without you and knowing that you gave up your own life for _her_, would drive her crazy." She chuckled. "Come on, surely you know that?"

Kyo fell silent. He hated to admit that she was right. tohru was seemingly fragile in many ways and he would hate to be the cause of her breakdown. They really needed each other or it just wouldn't feel right. Life would enevr be the same.

Having obvious proved her point, Hotrah turned to Shigure and winked. "Sorry stud. Looks like I won;t be returning with you, after all." She didn't bother to wait for a reply and turned her attention back to the table. "Guys.. It's been great to fight alongside you all. And good luck with getting home."

Yuki smiled softly. "We will not forget this, Hotrah."

"Yeah," Kyo whispered. "Thanks." In all, he could not express into words the respect and gratitude he felt towards the strange, loud, tanned woman. Nothing he could ever say or do, would ever match up and repay the gesture.. He would just have to protect Tohru for the rest of forever.

"Hey," she grinned. "Tell Tohru I said 'bye." She forced her palms on Tohru's torso and was suddenly engulfed by light. Colours danced and swayed and blinded Kyo, as they illuminated both women in a blurry haze. A crash from the side, told Kyo that Shigure had fallen back from incredible glare. Wisps of white and green danced together and entertwined, forming shards of a glass like substance. The shards fell upon the table and covered Tohru in a thin sheet of glistening water. In reality, the whole spectacle occured in the space of a few seconds and the light melted away and the gloomy leb fell back into focus.

Kyo's heart beat fast into the silence as he approached the table once more. Shigure allowed Yuki to help him onto his feet. The ex-dog's head scanned the room quickly but Hotrah was no where to be seen.

"Did it work?" He asked quietly. Kyo gently pulled Tohru into his arms and stopped breathing for a moment. Seconds later, Tohru's warm brown eyes fluttered open and she looked around in confusion.

"W-where am I?" She frowned and sat upright in Kyo's arms, brushing away the tears from Kyo's face that he wasn't even aware he even _had_. He said nothing but, buried his face in her hair.

"Man, you scared me back there," He admitted.

"I second that," Yuki chuckled. "You have no idea what happened Tohru."

"Uh.. What happened? I don't.. Remember anything." She sighed and rested her head on Kyo's chest. Kyo inwardly laughed at her cute confused expression. He neglected to retell the night's events - he doubted that he would _ever w_ant to relay them ever again. At that moment, he was enjoying the 'whole' feeling and knowing that Tohru was. Back, alive again as she should be.

Back with him.

A roaring sound filled the room and whirred through the entire lab. Furniture and equipment flew across the room and smashed into the walls, exploding into thousands of pixels and ata. Instinctively, Kyo teld onto Tohru and moved closer to his cousins. The walls and ceiling tore down and collasped into nothingness - folding upon itself away from reality. They were somehow floating on a green and black void as numbers and codes streamed downwards. Kyo opened his mouth to talk, but his voice was lost. The group acended up at a frightening speed - hair and clothes whipped relentlessly around them. They rose faster and faster. Soon enough, Kyo had to close his eyes and barce himself against the furious wind. Its screams intensified for a few painstaking seconds, before Kyo felt as if they had met a brick wall. All other sounds faded away, except for the pounding of his own heart and Tohru's ragged breathing. His eyes squinted and opened slowly, adjusting to the welcoming light.

Everything was so silent.

Someone gasped and scrambled to their feet. Tohru wriggled in Kyo's arms.

"We're back," Yuki choked. "We're home."

Kyo stared silently at the quiet living room that looked so _normal_. It was so odd to him, the way the kotatsu was situated in the middle of the room and the black screen of the flat televison. even the carpet under his own feet and hands felt so soft and comforting. So real. Tohru uncurled herself from his body and stared around at the room in wonder - like a blind man seeing the light for the very first time. Her small mouth opened and closed silently like a fish. She caught Kyo's eyes and rose her eyebrows in suprise and happiness. Another moment passed, and she nuzzled affectionately back into the crook of his neck.

He still couldn't get over how warm she was now.

Shigure rose shakily to his feet and hobbled over to the gaming console. Just as he was about to retrieve the disk, Yuki's hand darted to it first, and he chucked the disc out of the nearest open window.. Along with the gaming console.

Shigure pouted and folded his arms in contempt. "Okay team - what game next?"

* * *

**BIG THANKS to everyone who has followed the story and offered me their support during the last two years or so, of writing it. Without you guys out there - fave'ing and alerting and commenting - I doubt that it would finally have been finished. I just hope that you all enjoyed it (:**

**Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.**

**-xFadingmoonx**


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